I am Meredith! Just Meredith
by McGrey'sAnatomy
Summary: Mother and daughter in the same town, the same hospital! How long they will stand each other. Meredith&Ellis, Meredith&Derek. Chapter 70 is up! Please R
1. Meeting my doctor

**Chapter 1 –Meeting my doctor**

"So ... to make it clear to you one more time... at hospital you are the intern; you are now the Dr. Meredith Grey and I am an attending... I am Dr. Webber for you! "

Walking out of her bathroom, Meredith rolled her eyes. For the hundredth times, her mother gave her the lecture about how they would co-exist in the same hospital once that Meredith would start her internship. "Yes, mother!" Meredith replied, sounding as if she was agonizing. "I graduated the med school so I am not that balmy; trust me I understood everything perfectly from the first time."

"You don't have to be ironical Meredith." Sitting on the edge of Meredith's bed, legs crossed, Ellis watched every move that her daughter was doing. "Let me see the dress you are going to wear tonight." She held out one hand, impatiently waiting to criticize whatever Meredith was going to show her.

Meredith took out of the closet a long blue navy gown, spaghetti straps criss crossed over the back. "This is the dress." Meredith put the dressed over the front of her body, showing her mother the most important elements... elegant and decent.

Ellis checked it closely with critical eyes. "It's ok. It looks decent." She agreed. "I have to go home and get ready myself." Ellis handed the dress back to Meredith and turned on her heels heading towards the door.

Meredith followed her outside the bedroom and walked her until they reached downstairs at the front door.

At the bottom of the stairs, Ellis bumped into Meredith's best friend, who was also her new roommate. "I hope you two won't make me regret that I let you live alone in this house." Ellis scowled each of them.

Alex chuckled amused, not being too scared of the towering posture of Ellis Webber "Don't worry Mrs. Webber, we'll play nice." 

Ellis rolled her eyes and then looked back at her daughter. "Sure. Try not to arrive late at the mixer tonight."

"We won't. Bye now!" Meredith hurried to open the door, inviting Ellis to leave faster.

"Meredith, don't be impertinent." Ellis snapped at her.

"Sorry" Meredith looked down muttering, acting like a little Meredith.

From the doorway, Ellis looked around the small area of the hallway, but yet scanning the whole house. "I can't believe you chose to come back into this house, with all its bad memories. I should have sold it a long time ago."

"I was very little when everything happened so I don't really have too many memories here." Meredith talked much calmer this time, somehow affected by all the displeasures that her mother had to endure in that house, before they moved to live in Boston. She wasn't sure of what exactly had happened between her parents, but she never willed to find out either.

"Lucky you." Ellis sighed. "I'll see you tonight." She said as she stepped outside on porch.

"Bye!" Like two children left home alone, Meredith and Alex hurried to close the door after Ellis.

Meredith and Alex returned in house, walking together in living room; a furnished space, entirely covered with white sheets.

"This place requires reconstruction." Alex grumbled scowling the area.

Meredith slapped his arm walking inside past him. "Stop whining. Would you prefer to pay rent somewhere else or worse... to live in the same house with Ellis Webber and her husband?"

Alex seemed to be chocking at that thought. "nooo... this house is perfect!"

Meredith grinned back at him. "I thought so too." She grabbed the side of a sheet that was covering the couch and made it flew in air along with a mass of dust. Once they inhaled the dust and the air became too heavy to breathe, they ran out of room.

Alex was ready to protest when Meredith held up one hand. "Remember …Ellis, the rent …" She trailed off soothing words.

Alex rolled his eyes, unable to stop grumbling. "It'll take us forever to clean it." He muttered under his breath, but loud enough for Meredith to understand him.

"I know" Meredith admitted and let out a sight.

"What are we doing in Seattle, Meredith?" Alex asked her, not looking at her.

"Did you forget already? To play as doctors." Meredith retorted, same as Alex her mind wandering over all the things that needed to do to make that house look habitable.

"Oh yeah... I remember now!" Alex retorted with sarcasm. Meredith laughed. "And remember me again... why did I let myself convinced by you to come here?" He asked raising an eyebrow as he looked at her.

Meredith smiled and leaned to him sweetly. "Because you are my best friend and you didn't want to know me here, all alone with my mother and Richard. Oh, and because this way you could escape from your family."

"Oh yeah" Again, Alex sighed.

"I know this city is not the greatest Alex, but here they have the best internship program in surgery." Meredith admitted.

"Aren't you afraid that having your step dad as the chief of surgery and your mom as the head of general will give you big troubles with the other hospital staff? "

"Like I care their opinion." Meredith shrugged. "And this is another reason why I brought my good friend with me here." She grinned and threw her arms around Alex.

--

"Come on Meredith!" From the bottom of the stairs, Alex shouted up after his friend. "We'll be late and we don't want to be late. We were warned not to be late!"

"One more second and I am ready!" Meredith shouted back from upstairs.

Alex groaned in annoyance and not trusting that she would come downstairs as soon as she had promised, he decided to sit down and wait for her. But a second had passed indeed when he heard Meredith climbing down the stairs. Alex jumped on his feet and extremely bored turned to greet Meredith.

With a big smile on her face, Meredith was climbing down the stairs very graceful in her black dress, much shorter than the one she had showed to her mother and with a deep v-neck.

With the mouth wide open, Alex was speechless. "I was nice to have a friend like you." He admitted with admiration and then smiled up at her. "You're mom is so going to kill you when she'll see you!"

Meredith stopped beside him and wrapped her hand around his arm laughing. "I know."

--

Walking in at Alex's arm, Meredith and Alex finally made it to the hospital where the mixer party was taking place. They stopped at the entrance for a first look over the crowded place where people of all ages were interacting or simply staring with bored expressions on their faces around them. Alex was the first one who notices Ellis' presence in there and elbowed Meredith.

Meredith followed the the line of his vision and laughed after she understood why he was taking steps back; Ellis wasn't far from them, talking to some people. "Are you going to leave me alone?"

"Sweetie, you know I love you but I can't risk my life right now." He smiled apologetically. "I would like to experience the life as surgeon first." He smirked and mixed with the crowd.

Left alone, Meredith took a deep breath expecting to a long night. Staring around at all those faces, Meredith tried to figure which ones would be her co-workers and which ones their bosses, besides Ellis. Then she met the gaze of her mother on her, glaring at the design of her dress. Meredith sighed resignedly and waiting for Ellis to come to her.

"We'll have a talk about this later." Ellis muttered still staring at Meredith's dress. "Now don't just stay here! Go socialize with the others!" She urged her.

Meredith turned around instantly wishing to do anything just to get rid of her mother's presence. She was lucky to spot Alex nearly, smirking at her. Meredith walked over to him and slapped his arm muttering. "Coward."

Alex winced rubbing the spot that Meredith had slapped and chuckled. "Sorry, but I don't think it was that bad."

Meredith grinned with sarcasm at him and gave another look around her. "This looks boring." She grumbled.

"I found something not boring." Alex replied staring at someone with a crooked smile on his face.

"Who?" Meredith asked him with interest and tried to notice the person that caught Alex's attention.

Still staring at that person, Alex gestured with his head towards a blond girl. "It will be interesting to have a friend in Pediatrics."

"How do you know she is in Pediatrics?" Meredith asked him curious.

"Does she look to you like she could work in other field? Seriously Mere!" Alex chuckled with sarcasm and left Meredith's side.

"Hey, you were supposed to look after me." Meredith whined terrified by the thought of spending the rest of the evening all alone. "If my mom finds out ..." Meredith tried to find a way to scare him. "She will kick your butt."

"Come on Mere, you are a big girl now!" Alex laughed. "You will be fine, besides…" he smirked looking at someone else now "someone else is already looking after you."

"Who?" Meredith became suddenly interested.

"Just look on your left." Alex mumbled.

Meredith turned her head to look at her left and easily she saw a good-looking man staring at her and smiling. Meredith smiled back at him and turned giggling to Alex. "He's hot." She admitted almost breathless. "But he doesn't look like an intern; he might be a resident or an attending so I am not going to risk." She shook her head.

"He looks like he wants to risk so I think I am going to introduce myself to the ped and give you the chance to meet him. Good luck!" He said quickly and left her alone again.

"Good luck with her." Meredith grumbled.

Right after Alex left, the man who was staring at her earlier was beside her in an instant like he was waiting for this chance.

Meredith had her back turned to him, so she started when that man whispered to her ear. "Are you one of our new interns?"

'One of our interns.' Meredith sighed slightly disappointed. He was one of her soon-to-be bosses.

"Yes, I am." Meredith answered as she turned to face him.

"What program are you into?" He asked her.

"Surgery"

"Really?" The man seemed pleasantly surprised to find that out. "I am very lucky in this case; we are going to have the chance to work together. Hi, I'm Dr. Mark Sloan. I am the … " He introduced himself holding out his hand, but Meredith cut him off.

"… the head of plastics; I know." Meredith smiled.

"Wow, I am impressed!" Mark chuckled. "You are very well informed. What's your name?"

Meredith hesitated for a moment before introducing herself. "My name is Meredith. Nice to meet you." She shook his hand.

"Just Meredith?" Mark asked her with amusement.

"Just Meredith" Meredith replied. She didn't want to be known as mommy's girl yet, though most of the doctors present there knew she should be around.

"Oh. Alright then. I would like to call you Dr. Meredith then." Mark laughed.

With regret, Meredith knew she should step away from Mark now that she knew he was going to be one of her bosses.

"You know, _Dr._ Meredith..." Mark chuckled and leaned dangerously close to her ear. "I really hope you have a special interest in Plastics."

Meredith felt her face flushing and lost the train of her thoughts as she met her mother's glare staring at them. "Umm... ok….I…I'll just go and … I'll see you around." Meredith stammered already stepping away from him.

Mark stared after, a crooked smile spread across his lips. "I look forward too." He muttered under his breath. He was gazing at Meredith so intensively that he hadn't even noticed Ellis stopping beside him.

"Dr. Sloan." She cleared her throat.

"Dr. Webber." Mark started. "Are you enjoying the mixer?" He asked her smiling.

"Not as much as you are." Ellis replied dryly, still glaring at him. "I hope this year you'll teach something to our interns."

Mark chuckled and turned to look at Meredith again. "I sure will" He laughed. Ellis shook her head disapprovingly and left.

After she left Mark, Meredith went to Alex who was now talking to the blond girl he had spotted and another guy who looked around their age.

"So" Alex came over to her and smirked as expressed his wish to find out more about Meredith's potential date.

"He is an attending." Meredith grumbled with disappointment.

"I'm sorry, sweetie." Alex patted her back friendly. "Let me introduce you new fellow interns." He said as he led her to those he has been talking to. "Izzie and George, this is Meredith." He made the introductions.

Meredith shook hands with both of them, amused to find out that Izzie wasn't in the Pediatrics as Alex had thought. They a short chat about how their future workplace would be until Meredith excused herself saying that she would rather go home.

"Hey, but you are my ride, and I don't want to leave now!" Alex protested.

"If you want ...I can give you a ride home." Izzie offered to help him, smiling flirtatiously at him.

Alex and Meredith shared a knowingly smile and then Meredith wished them fun and left the hospital.

When Meredith walked outside in the parking lot, the rain was pouring badly. She ran to her car, fumbling for her keys to unlock it faster and as she reached to it, she opened the door and got inside. She let out a sigh as she stared out on window at the hospital. "I don't feel like going home" She muttered under her breath. "It doesn't even look like a house." Meredith giggled. "Alex is right... we are so screwed."She was about to start the ignition when she noticed the bar across the street. "I could need some tequila right now." Meredith opened the door and got out in the rain again, locking the car and running towards the bar.

Inside, Meredith noticed a free spot at the bar, so she took a seat down on a barstool.

"Hey." The friendly barman greeted her. "What can I get you?"

"Many shots of tequila." Meredith ordered.

"Are you sure?" the bartender asked her incredulously. "You don't look like you can handle them."

Meredith smiled at him. "You don't know me. I can take them, don't worry."

After a few shots a man came to sit beside her at bar.

"This looks dangerous for you." He stated with amusement in his voice.

"You don't know me either." Meredith grumbled.

"That's true, but I am want you to know me so … hi. I'm Derek." He held out his hand for a friendly shake.

Meredith turned to look at him and noticed him for the first time. She swallowed a lump, feeling her knees weak and she found herself lost in his piercing blue eyes. 'A_nother hot man.' _She cried on the inside._ 'At least he can't be an attending.'_ She said to herself.

"Are you going to stay mysterious?" He chuckled at her gaze.

Meredith snapped back to reality and smiled sheepishly at him "Do you want to know my last name too?" She asked him laughing.

"No ... at least not now." Derek laughed. "But I will want to when we'll get married." He added.

Meredith laughed. "Alright then." She held out her hand. "I'm Meredith."

"Nice to meet you, Meredith." Derek shook her head smiling dreamily at her.

"Nice to meet you too, Derek." Meredith giggled.

"So what made you come and drown your self with tequila?" He asked her.

"New town, new house, new job." Meredith trailed off.

Derek chuckled. "Too many new things indeed."

"How about you?" She asked him pointing to his drink.

"You won't believe…" He grinned.

"Try me." Meredith giggled.

"New town…" Derek started.

"Oh nice …cheers for this one" Meredith laughed and she took a swing of tequila while Derek took from his drink.

"And that's not all…" Derek continued. "Also a new house …or more a new roommate and a new job too."

"Really? Umm…well cheers for the new roommate and the new job." Meredith held up her shot of tequila again.

"Cheers" and their glasses hurtled, both of them pouring their drinks down their throats.

"Are you for the first time in Seattle?" Derek tried to start a casual conversation.

"No, but I haven't been here for almost 10 years, I think." Meredith giggled, being already tipsy.

"Well, at least you have an idea about the city. I have 2 months since I live here and so far none showed me the surroundings." Derek confessed.

"And do you want me to be your guide?" Meredith giggled.

"You'd do me a very big favor." Derek admitted it grinning at her.

Meredith laughed and shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I think I may need a guide too."

"We can make a trip together around the city and if we get lost we can take it as an adventure. What do you say?" Derek suggested.

"I don't think so." Meredith shook her head.

"So you don't like the adventure." Derek stated with disappointment.

"I do like it, but not with a stranger." Meredith admit it.

"First of all ,I am not a stranger. I am Derek, remember?" Derek chuckled. "And secondly, that's what makes an adventure."

"Ok …Derek, but I still don't go in adventures with strangers. What if you are a psycho?"

"Do I look like a psycho?" Derek frowned mockingly and turned to Joe the bartender. "Do I look like a psycho to you?"

Joe laughed. "Sometimes you do."

Meredith laughed too. "You don't have to look like a psycho to be one."

Derek sighed acting disappointed. "Ok, so I guess I still have to wait for a tour from somebody else."

"I'm sure you'll get lucky one day." Meredith smiled with the same mockery in her features as Derek's. The she noticed his clothes. "So from where did you run off?" She asked him.

"What do you mean?" Derek asked her curious.

"You are dressed very fancy; did you run away from your wedding or someone's wedding?" Meredith interrogated him.

Derek laughed as he answered. "I didn't get where I was supposed to get. I changed my mind in the last minute."

"Did you left your fiancé at the aisle?" Meredith asked him raising suggestively an eyebrow.

"No!" Derek laughed. "I just missed from a fancy party. How about you?" He asked her as he saw her dress.

"I gave a chance to the party, but it didn't work so… here I am." Meredith admitted.

"Here we are." Derek concluded. "It looks like we have a lot in common."

"It seems so." Meredith smiled.

**--**

The next morning, at 5.30 am the alarm started blurring. Because nobody seemed to turn off the alarm, Alex broke in Meredith's room "Meredith we'll be late! Wake up ….Shit!" He walked outside as fast as he had walked inside after he met an unpleasant view. Meredith lying naked over Derek, also naked.

Alex's noisy appearance and loud noise of the alarm clock made them jump upright.

"Crap!" Meredith grumbled rubbing her temples as she felt the pain throbbing inside her head.

"Who was that? Your brother, your boyfriend, your fiancé, your husband?" Derek asked her worried.

"My roommate, but that's not important right now, I'm late and … I have to shower and you …you have to leave …. " Meredith trailed off as she got out of the bed.

Derek gave a look around at the empty room; a bed without sheets, a closet and an armed chair …and all this very dusty, were the only furniture. "You know, because of you I am very dusty right now so at least you can do to make it up to me is to let me get into the shower …" Derek pouted. "…with you." He grumbled as he added and smiled crookedly at her.

Meredith loved his smile since she first met him and she would have accepted his request, but she quickly remembered her mother and the fact that she couldn't be late…not today. "I'm sorry. You look nice even if you are dusty so you can go home like this." Meredith smiled.

"Ok, but for this you owe me another date and a shower." Derek warned her smiling.

"Ok, wie'll negotiate this some other time, but now I really, really have to go." Meredith grabbed his clothes from floor and threw them in his arms.

"Ok, I'll get in touch with you about this." Derek promised.

"Bye Derek."

"Meredith."

Meredith took a quick shower and headed downstairs, where Alex was waiting for her with her jacket and a mug of coffee.

"So you had fun last night after all." Alex chuckled.

"You bet I did." Meredith smirked. "How about you?"

Alex grinned at her as response.

"Good boy." Meredith laughed. "Let's go now."


	2. Meeting my work fellows

**Chapter 2- Meeting my work fellows**

The Chief Webber gave them a tour of the hospital and after he finished he came to Meredith "Good luck Meredith! "

"Thank you!" and after he leaves she looks worried around her "I am really going to need it!"  
"Are you ready to play?" Alex came smiling to her.  
"I hope so, otherwise I am very screwed! "  
------------------------------------------------  
In the locker room she finds the others fellows "hi Izzie, George!"  
"Morning Meredith! " Izzie greets her from her locker room.  
"Hi Meredith!"  
Alex passes near Izzie "Morning Izzie!" and Izzie smiles at him "hi Alex!"  
Both Meredith and George notice the flirting between them and smile at each other.

A girl approaches them "does any of you have Bailey? "  
All of them answers her "we have her!"  
The girl fixes her robe and looks at them "oh…I'm Christina Yang! "  
"I'm Izzie Stevens"  
"Alex Karev"  
"George O'Mailey"  
"Meredith … just Meredith! "  
Everyone, except Alex are looking weird at her!

"I don't know if you heard, but this year we a have a little celebrity between us!" Christina said bitterly and got Izzie's interest "Really?"   
"Yeah… none else but Ellis's Grey daughter!"  
"The dr. Ellis Grey Webber? " George asked a little confused  
"indeed" Christina answered him on the same tone and heads back to her locker, which is right next to Meredith's. Alex and Meredith are looking at each other. "So we'll have a favored intern!" Christina continued.  
"She'll sure scrub in the best surgeries." Izzie said with envy.  
Meredith gives worried glares to Alex, who tries to take the side of his friend "From what I heard dr. Grey Webber is very correct when it comes to work so you might have hurried to make the judgments!"  
Christina slams the door from her locker "will see!"  
"So Meredith, Alex told me that you two are living together in a big house!"

"That's right Izzie!"  
"Don't you need some room mates?"  
"Umm. … I don't know…I haven't thought about this before!"   
"Meredith, we do need roommates ...the costs for this kind of house are huge, and do you wanna ask your mom money every month? Coz from our salary we can't afford it!" And Izzie nodded with excitement at Alex's words.  
"You're right! Do you wanna move in with us Izzie?"  
"Yes"  
George came fast to them "I want too"  
Christina reacts fast too "me too! I really need to get rid off my mom!"  
Meredith laughs "I know what you mean… ok then…we have rooms for you!"  
"Thank you!" and Izzie and George hugged her making her to step back "Will talk later about the rent! Or I have an even better suggestion … I am going to make you a super offer … the first month is free if you will help on cleaning."  
Everyone answered "sure!!!"   
Meredith winks to Alex "we found the solution for that problem."

Dr. Bailey comes in "ok…my interns: Karev, Stevens, O'Mailey, Yang, Grey!"  
Christina stops shocked "Grey? She's with us? Who's Grey?" and she sees Meredith following Bailey "Meredith?"  
Meredith continued to walk and passing near her she smiles "Meredith Grey!"  
Christina sighs with irritation "oh great!"

Bailey gives them the rules, the pagers and the assignments. "Karev, O'mailey pit, Stevens – charts, Grey- Shephard, Yang you are with me. Ok people this are this assignments for your first 24 hours of the shift! For the others 24 I'll find you down to pit! Now try not to kill too many people from your first day! Let's go!"

Meredith stops her "dr. Bailey, how do I find dr. Shepherd?"  
Bailey answers her fast "Ask a nurse to page him; I just saw him earlier he might still be on this floor."

Meredith asked a nurse to page her attending and waited for him at the nurse station. He arrives there too and says to the nurse that he was paged.

Meredith turns around and both see each other shocked. Meredith tries to understand "what…? "  
Derek is actually looking less shocked then her and smiles at her "what are you doing here? Did you come to apologize?"

The nurse interrupts them "this is dr. Grey, your intern" and then she looks at Meredith "this is doctor Shepherd!"

Meredith sighs with disappointment "_of course he had to be an attending"_   
"So … dr. … Grey… let's …go and see our patients." and Derek guides her to the elevator without looking at each other "This is wrong!"  
"I know!"  
The elevator's door open and they step in. They are alone. Derek stops the elevator and coming in front of Meredith's "Ok… tell me is just a name coincidence… you are not even far related to Ellis Grey!"  
Meredith looks at him and gives him a small smile "I am her daughter!"  
Derek sighs and brushes his hair "oh GOD!" he lets the elevator go, but after just a few seconds he stops it again  
The sudden stop makes Meredith to lose her balance a little "Are you trying to kill us?" But Derek kisses her and puts an end to her protest.  
After a few seconds Meredith pushes him away "dr. Shepherd!!"  
"I am sorry! I just wanted to remember our last kiss!"  
"Ok, but now it's over; I am an intern and you are an attending and there are rules."  
Derek sighs "I know!" and he lets the elevator go again.

Derek presented her the patients and gave her some tests to do, all this time acting very professionally. 

------------------------------------------------  
At lunch in the patio, Alex and George were there, later Izzie and Christina came too.  
Izzie sits next to Alex "So you are living with Ellis's Grey daughter?"  
"No, I live with Meredith!" looking serious at her.  
"Ok, but she is still her daughter!" Christina replied with disbelief.  
"You guys don't know anything about her; but I do know her; we are friends from high school, we have many years spent together and I can asure you that all this time she tried to hide her last name; she wanted everyone to know her as Meredith Grey, not the daughter of Meredith Grey , and her mother? Her mother is the most serious mother I have ever met; I really don't wish to any of you a mother like that! That is the reason she moved in Boston and she attended there the HS and the Med School, to escape from her mother."  
Izzie and George listened with sympathy, except Christina who didn't seem impressed "and why is she here now? Why didn't she stay in Boston? She came here to make her entrance into the medical field easier?"  
"No, we came here because SG has the best intership programme in this field! And I can asure you one more thing, that neither her mother or her step father will favor her here. Her mother keeps reminding this to her ever since Meredith told her that she wants to come here. So give her chance! Don't judge her by her name!" 

Meredith is coming at them "May I sit with you?" Alex pulls a chair next to him "Of course you can?"  
"I wasn't asking you, I was asking them! I want to know if I am banned from this group or not!"  
"Of course you can stay!" Izzie said and George confirmed "sure!"   
Christina doesn't say anything and all the others are looking at her "whatever!"

"So how is it so far?" Alex asked her.  
Meredith lets out a long sigh "I could have been better! How about yours?"  
"We are practicing the sutures down in pit" and George continues "do not forget the rectal exams."  
Christina looking disgusted at her food "oh please don't remind me of this!"  
Izzie mixing in her tea with lazy moves "I have an incredibly boring day!"

A few moments of silence fall over their table, while Meredith gives glares to all of them. She takes a deep breath "So now that you know my last name, do still want to move in with me?"

Everyone looks at her  
"I do!" Izzie confirmed  
George agreed too "me too!"   
Christina doesn't look at her "I'll let you know!"   
Meredith sighs with relief "good!"

A pager goes off and they look at theirs.  
Meredith: it's mine! I have to run. 

She arrived to the patient's room where two nurses were doing the CPR to the patient. "What happened?" she asked heading to its bed.  
"He stopped breathing and lost his conscious." One of the nurses said  
"Did you page dr. Shepherd?"  
"of course we did"  
"Well page him again!" Meredith asked with panic while she was listening to his heart  
"We have to do something, we are losing him dr. Grey!"  
Meredith takes the padles "charge to 200!... Clear…" one of the nurses checks closely his vital signs "still nothing"

"ok..charge at 250"   
"We have the beat, but it's weak" the nurse confirmed.   
"Give him 1 ml adrenaline and let's intubate him!"  
"Have you made an intubation before?"  
"This is my first day as doctor, of course I didn't, but do you have any better idea?"  
Meredith has just finished to intubate the patient when Derek came "What happened?" checking the patient.  
Meredith's panic transforms in anger and starts yelling at him "where in the hell have you been?"  
Derek and nurses are looking shocked at her. "Thank you dr. Grey! You may go now!" he asked her with a cold tone. And Meredith storms out of the room. Alex sees her. 

"Hey Mere! Guess what? I am going to scrub in!!!" but Meredith keeps walking angry "good for you!"  
"Are you ok?" Meredith stops and looks at him with teary eyes "I'm not ok."  
"What happened?"  
"I saved the patient's life and then I yelled at my attendant!"   
"wow! Hey, but you saved the patient, they can't punish you"   
"I don't know! he asked me to live the room."  
Alex tries to comfort her "Of course, because you hurt his ego, but I don't think you should be worried!"  
Meredith sees Bailey coming to them.  
"You did a great job in there dr. Grey, Congratulations, but how foolish of you to yell at your attending!" she turns to Alex "Karev, do you have too much free time?"  
"I am going!" and he leaves  
"The chief wants to see us! Follow me!"

They got at the chief's office. They found in there the chief, Ellis and Derek and Richard greets them "Dr. Bailey, dr. Grey come on in!"  
Ellis goes out the office without looking at Meredith!  
"Dr. Grey I heard what happened, and I want to say that as an intern you don't have the right to judge what your resident or your attending do."  
Meredith looks down sad "I know and I am sorry for that!"  
"If your patient dies while your attending is not there and you did everything that you could to save it then you don't have to worry about it, because the patients die and when the attending is there too. I want you to apologize to dr. Shepherd for yelling at him!"  
Derek is looking with a serious face at her and Meredith sighs a little annoyed by the this fact "I am sorry dr. Shepherd, I shouldn't have yelled at you!"

"Apologies accepted!"   
"Chief, but we also have to consider that dr. Grey saved that patient's life and I don't want to excuse what she did, but dr. Shepherd did wrong too for not answering in time to the call!"   
"You are right! Congratulations dr. Grey! You did a great job in there!"  
"Thank you chief!"  
"So dr. Shepherd! Should I assign another intern for you?" Bailey asked him.  
"No, excepting that small incident dr. Grey is doing a good job so far, so I'll keep her!" Meredith looks at him with anger and he answers her look with a smile.  
"Good then! Now let's go back to work!" and the Chief leads them out his office.

Derek and Meredith are now waiting the elevator. None of them says anything. The doors are opening and they get inside. They are alone again.   
Derek without looking at her "so after all you did apologize for sending me home dusty this morning!" and he smiles at her.   
Meredith turns at him angry "Did you do this purposely?"   
"You did indeed a great job in there!" Derek said  
Meredith turns her back at him again "Thank you! At least you appreciate my work." This makes Derek laugh "and not just your work!"

"Dr. Shepherd, I am your intern!"  
"I know and there are rules about this, don't worry, I have it under control!"  
"You don't look like you do!"  
"I do! And starting this moment everything between us is strictly professional!"  
"I hope so!"

**More MerDer stuff coming up in the next chapter. Leave me impressions about this please!**


	3. The first 48 hours

It's 10 p.m. the end of their first day as interns. All 5 of them are sitting in cafeteria with their trays full with food, but none of them eats anything.

"I knew that is going to be hard, but not that hard!" George cried, but Alex smirks "I am satisfied; I scrubbed in with Dr. Burke!" and his words are followed by a serial sighs.

"My day was boring; I wrote all day the charts and I listened the nurse's gossips, which by the way, Meredith I heard that you yelled at your attendant."

"Apparently, the entire hospital heard, but nobody heard that I also saved the patient's life by myself. I believe that now I am also considered arrogant!"

"No one considers you arrogant!" Alex comforts her

Meredith is playing with the fork in her food and looking at it "yeah sure!"

"Hey, but he forgave right? After all he allowed you to assist at his surgery!"

Meredith sighs "I don't even care if he forgave me or not, after all he is the teacher and he has to teach me when he is asked!"

Alex barges in their talk "Now that we are talking about Dr. Shepherd … Meredith, don't you think he looks a lot like the guy you…" And right in that moment Meredith gives him a look to stop.

Being friends for such a long time, Meredith and Alex learned how to communicate just looking at each other. Many times on their exams, they were helping each other like this, same as when one of them wanted to be saved from a date or wanted to be left alone with the date. So then, Meredith's look made Alex stop, and he knew that something was not right about Derek. And then his look asked her what's wrong.

Meredith mouthed without the others to notice "it was him"

"What?" Alex mouthed

Meredith nodded.

"Oh no" Alex said

Meredith nodded again.

Izzie interrupted their dumb talk "Meredith, when do you think we can move in?"

"Umm…I don't know; I think I should talk with my mom first, but if she says it's ok, then I guess you can move in right after this shift ends."

George is excited "that would be great!"

Meredith knew that Christina wasn't very thrilled to be college with her, but she wanted her to know that she wants to be her friend: "Christina, have you decided yet?"

"No, not yet, but I'll let you know!""

"ok" she sees Ellis coming in cafeteria "oh here is mom …sorry Dr. Grey Webber" she stands up and goes to the table where her mom, Richard and another doctor were staying.

"Dr. Grey-Webber!"

"yes Dr. Grey!"

"May I have a word with you in private?"

"Is it regarding the hospital?"

"Not exactly!"  
"Then I cannot help you right now. We will talk after you shift will end"

Meredith was used not to receive the help or the advice she needed from her mother, so she sighs and goes back to the others interns.

Izzie: what did she say?

Meredith looks at Alex, who knows what happened.

"She said it's ok!"  
Izzie jumps of exciment "OMG this is great!!!"

Alex shakes his head with disagreement.

Each time Ellis was refusing to help Meredith in a problem, Meredith was resolving it in her way, a way that always causes disagreements between mother and daughter.

Christina sighs "I would kill to have Ellis Grey Webber as my mother!!" and this makes Meredith laugh "you can kill me and then maybe she'll adopt you!"

"Seriously Meredith, she is a brilliant doctor!"

"She is brilliant … (sighs)…as a doctor"

Later Meredith found an empty on call room and she felt asleep right away. The first day put her in front of many situations, most of them very disturbing.

After a half an hour of sleep, the door opened and someone stepped in and turned on the light. "You know that the doctors have priority in these rooms."

Meredith lets out a sigh and turning around rubbing her eyes she saw Derek standing near her bed, smiling at her.

She got up of the bed nervous and headed to the door: "I'm sorry, I didn't know!"

Derek grabbed her arm and stopped her "I can share the room with you, I don't mind!"

Meredith pulled her arm back "Sleep well Dr. Shepherd!"

She twisted the door handle and opened the door a little, but Derek pushed the door back and pulled Meredith to him. He took her in his arms and started to kiss her.

Meredith unresisted and soon their lab coat and the scrub clothes were off and they were falling on bed. Soon they were interrupted by a pager, so both stopped and looked at each other. They knew they had to answer it so both looked for its pager.

"Tt's mine… umm" while she was dressing back "…sleep well …Dr. Shepherd!"

She teared out the room leaving Derek looking preoccupied. _"I can't control it!!! I have to control! I need to stop this!"_. He dressed him self and he laid back on bed.

Bailey paged Meredith down to pit. The patients didn't have major injuries but they were many, so she finished with her last one after 2 hours.

She wanted to go and sleep somewhere, but she avoided the on calls room so she went in the basement. There she found Alex sleeping on a stretcher. She approached him slowly and yelled at him with a harsh tone "Are you sleeping Karev?"

Alex jumped scared and saw Meredith bursting in a laugh "Sorry!"

"I hope you are not expecting me to laugh too now!"  
Meredith smiles at him "no, but I am expecting you to share this stretcher with me"

Alex stood up on his sit and allowed her to sit next to him.

They were both quiet now, resting their backs and heads on the wall.

"So you slept with your boss! Nice Meredith!" smiling at her

"Yeah… (sighs)…and almost slept one more time a few hours ago!"

"You know there are some rules about it!"

"I know! This has to stop!"

"And right away!"

Alex put his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder.

Derek and Ellis were coming to basement. They found both of them sleeping with their heads on each other's shoulder.

"Good Morning doctors!!!" Ellis greets them with a loud tone.

Meredith and Alex woke up, seeing there Ellis and Derek. They looked at their watch and then at each other … it was passed 5a.m. and at 5 they were supposed to meet Bailey in pit for new assignments.

Ellis looked at them with a serious face "I wasn't expecting from something else from you two!" she throws some charts in Alex's arms "Karev you are with me today! Check these patients and right their charts before I get back!" and she leaves

Alex getting off the stretcher "yes Dr. Webber!" and he left too, without saying good-bye to Meredith.

Derek hasn't said anything yet. He settled next to Meredith. Meredith looked at him with a serious face.

"You are my intern again today" he said smiling and looking at her

"You said you have it under control, but it looks like you don't!"

"I know, but you don't have it under control either!"

"This is wrong! Very wrong!"

"I know!"  
"So?"

"So, I guess we'll have to try more to control it!"

"We have to"

That day was a very busy one. The pit was crowded so all the interns got the chance to assist on surgeries. Each of them slept no more then 1 hour during those 24 hours.

The next morning after the shift ended, all the interns were in the locker room changing into their street clothes.

"Later today you can start moving in if you want; first we all need a good sleep."

Alex comes to her locker "about sleeping Meredith, no offense, but home is not a good place to sleep right now; we don't even have sheets on our beds Meredith!"

Meredith sighs "I know!" and she turns to Christina "Christina?"

"I'm coming too!"

"Great! Here is my address" and she writes it on some piece of paper and gives it to them "I'll see you in the afternoon."

Outside in the parking lot, Alex takes Meredith aside.

"Mere, I think you should go and sleep over your mom's now!"

Meredith smiles at him "Where are you going?"

"To Izzie's! I'm sorry!"

Meredith fakes to be upset "So now you are leaving me for the first blonde you met? Thank you my friend!"

"Mere!"

Meredith smiles at him "I was joking! It'ok! Go and rest, later we'll have a lot of work to do!"

Meredith watched them leaving. She stepped into her car. She didn't want to sleep over her mom's house, but she didn't want to sleep in that mess of house either. She put her hands and head over the wheel and closed her eyes, trying to decide were to sleep.

"This doesn't look like a good place to sleep after a 48 hour shift!" a voice said.

Meredith looked up and saw Derek standing near her car smiling.

**This was the third chapter. Now please review it, otherwise I won't post the next ones.**


	4. He is my McDreamy

**I am so sorry for the delay, but I had lost the document with the update! I've just found it and I am posting it! It is not too great writed, but I promise that the next ones will be better. I hope that you will enjoy this chapter**!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy! A lady called Shonda does!**

**I'm Meredith … just Meredith**

**Chapter 4- He is my McDreamy**

"You don't like that bed either, do you?" Derek asked her smiling as   
Meredith placed her head back on wheel "no, I don't!"

"I know a better place to sleep if you are interested!"

"No, I am not interested."

"Nothing will happen you'll see!"  
Meredith looked up at him "no!"

"You might try in an on call room, but you are not sure that you'll can sleep in there."

"Still no!"

"Come on Dr. Grey! At least let me take you over your mother's place"  
Meredith was resting her head again on the wheel and she said more to herself: "anywhere else but there!" but Derek heard her "then come with me"  
She looked again at him. He started to walk over his car. She saw him opening the door from the passenger's sit. 

"Or you can fallow me if you want" he said.  
Meredith started the engine and looked at Derek.  
Derek smiled, closed the door and got in his car. He started the car and slowly drove, not knowing yet if Meredith will follow him. But she did.  
They drove about 15 minutes until they got to an apartment complex. Derek parked his car and so did Meredith.  
They entered in apartment. It was large one, at the 10th floor with an incredibly beautiful view over the Seattle. Meredith headed straight to the window and enjoyed the view. 

"Nice place" she said, looking back at Derek who was watching her. "You have fine tastes in housing"  
Derek coming to her "Actually it is my roommate's"

"You are lucky, which I cannot say the same about mines" she said smiling remembering all the work they'll have to do to make that house looking decent

"They are lucky too!" Derek said smiling at her and making Meredith to look at him.

"They have you as a roommate!"  
Meredith stepped back "it was not such a good idea to come here!" And she went back to door

"I was just saying! Come on! I am doing very well controlling myself so far! Let me show you the room!"

He showed her the room and the bathroom. "You can use the shower if you want!"

"I thought you already forgave me for that!"

"I did, but I like teasing you! I'll let you take a shower now and I'll prepare something to eat."

After he finished preparing the breakfast, Derek went to call Meredith, who was supposed to be finished the shower by now.  
He came in bedroom and saw Meredith already sleeping. He looked at her for a while. She was wearing his bath wrap and the wet hair was covering her face. He brushed it over from her face.  
Then he went to eat something, took a shower too and then he laid next to her. 

Around 1 o'clock, Meredith woke up. She found Derek sleeping very close to her and with one arm over her waist. At first, she felt angry on him, because he said he can control it, but then she said to herself to enjoy the moment and let the complaining for later.  
She slipped away from his bed, took her clothes and went to the bathroom. But right when she was about to enter the bathroom the main door opened and a familiar face appeared.  
She stood there frizzed. It was a man, a familiar face.  
That man saw her too and right away he recognized her. 

"Dr. Meredith" he said  
"Dr. Sloan"  
Mark is looking at her wearing Derek's bath wrap and looking like she has just woke up.  
"Wow" he said. "This is …a surprise"  
Meredith is feeling embarrassed "I'll …go change" and she got into the bathroom leaving Mark in daze.  
Mark entered in Derek's room yelling "since when are you sleeping with the interns Derek? What is wrong with you?"

Derek woke up by Mark's shouts "What's your problem?"  
"I don't have a problem, but it looks like you do!"  
Derek confused "Me?" he now realizes that Meredith wasn't there "…Meredith.

"Exactly, Meredith! She is the problem!"  
Derek getting up from the bed and looking around the room and outside the room: "look, I don't know why you have a problem with her, but have you seen her?" He now hears the water flowing in bathroom. "Oh so you saw her" 

Right in that moment the water stopped and the bathroom's door opened. Both saw Meredith coming out dressed.  
Meredith was feeling embarrassed and smiled at them.  
"I have to go now, thank you … Dr. Shephard for your …bed! Bye Dr. Sloan!" and she quickly leaves the apartment.  
Derek tried to stop her "Meredith …"  
"Dr. Meredith …"  
But Meredith didn't hear any of them since she was already gone! 

Derek and Mark looked at each other "Dr. Meredith? And how did she know your name since you was gone this last two days and you missed from the hospital?" but he didn't receive an answer from Mark. 

"She is the girl you met at the mixer?" Derek asked a little nervous.  
"That was MY dr. Meredith" Mark replied a little angry himself.  
"Did you sleep with her?" Derek asked, starting now the argue  
"No, but I guess you already did, didn't you?" Mark said.  
"And if I did, so what? Are you jealous?"  
"Derek, what are we arguing for? She's just an intern! And besides, there are rules about the relations between attendings and interns"  
"I still don't understand why are you so pissed off that you found her here? You are having relationships with the entire hospital's stuff"   
"You're right! It is just surprising to find Derek Shephard doing the same thing!" Mark smiled.  
"Anyway, not that this is your business, but she just needed a decent bed to sleep on today"   
Mark laughing: A decent bed? Seriously Derek, is she living under a bridge or what? Coz that night, in that dress you wouldn't have said that"  
Derek: leave me alone! (And he returned to his bed room and closed the door)

Meredith arrived at her house. She saw in front of her house her mother's car and another two unknown cars.  
_"Let the show begin"_ she said, thinking that her mother didn't know about her new room mates. She sighed and entered the house.  
Inside she found Alex, Izzie and George talking in living room. 

Alex greeted her as she came in "Meredith! Where have you been? Your mother is here!"   
Meredith looking around the house worried "I know! Where is she?"

"She's down in basement looking for something!"

"What did she say when she saw Izzie, George and their luggages here?"

"She didn't say anything about that; she just asked for you and I told her that you slept with me at Izzie's and that you left to buy some drinks!"   
Meredith lets out a sigh of relief "Thank you!"

"But where did you sleep?"

"This is not the most important detail right now! I have to see what she needs!"

"Meredith!!!"

"Not now Alex!"

"I hope you wasn't with you know who!"

"I'm going down to talk to her!"

"Meredith!!!"

"Later Alex!" as she was heading to basement. 

Down in the basement, Meredith found her mom searching through some boxes.  
"Hi mom!"

"Meredith! When were you thinking to tell me about your new roommates?"

"I wanted to tell you the other day, in the cafeteria, but you didn't want to talk to me!"  
Ellis continued into a harsh tone "and of course, you decided to take the decision by yourself!"

"I'm sorry! But they really needed a place to live!"

"You know what? I don't even care. This house is yours now; it is the only good thing that your father gave you!" All this time she didn't look at Meredith and kept looking in some boxes, but now she sees her and looks at her careful "are you wearing the same clothes from two days ago?"

"umm… I…I didn't have time to change them yet!"

"Are you already trying to get rid of your roommates and now you'll stay stinky all day?"

"Mom! I showered and I will change them as soon as I can. What are you doing here anyway?"

"Now do I have to justify myself about what I am doing in my house?"

"But you have just said that is my house now!"

"Meredith stop it! I need some papers and I'm leaving! Oh …and one more thing about your new … housing …"

"Of course, you have something to observe upon it!"  
Ellis shakes her head with disappointment "You are my daughter Meredith and I want the best for you and this…this "roommates" or "friends" or whatever you are calling them they are your competition. Not all of you will pass the first year, only the best of you and I want you to be one of the best. I also do not want to see you too excited about this situations. You cannot trust in them as friends, just try to keep a distance between you!"

"What are you saying? That they shouldn't be my friends?!"

"That is exactly what I am saying! All they want is to be friends with Ellis's Grey daughter!"

"How do you know that they don't want to be friends with Meredith?"  
Ellis smiles "You are such a believer! I have to go now! Just take care of yourself!" 

Ellis headed upstairs and Meredith followed her. Ellis left without saying good-bye to the others, who were around the living room.  
As she came out of the basement, Meredith headed upstairs without saying anything to them. Alex saw her angrily and almost ready to burst into tears. 

"Meredith!" He called her, but she kept walking to her room. 

Alex followed her. He found her crying on the bedroom's floor and set next to her trying to comfort her. 

Meredith is crying and between sobs, "Why are you my friend, Alex?"

"This is a good question! Sometimes I ask myself the same thing!" he said joking, but he saw that Meredith was very serious "… because when you came in my neighborhood, your uncle threatened me that he will accidentally pass with his car over me if I won't take care of you" Meredith laughs a little, "and of course, because he was also giving me money pocket for this , and because in High School you were introducing me all the girls from your classes and because in the Med School you were sharing the corps with me" Meredith stopped from crying and started to laugh "… because you are Meredith and you know I can continue with the reasons, but we won't finish the house work and tonight who knows where we will be sleeping!" 

"Thank you Alex!" And she gives him a hug "I am still not telling you where I slept this morning." She gets up and goes to her bathroom. 

Alex follows her. "Meredith, I hope you didn't sleep with him again!  
Meredith doesn't say anything she just looks at him. "Mere! You know this is wrong!"

"I did not have sex with him. He just …borrowed me a bed." Alex looks at her with disbelief. "Seriously Alex! We had sex just once and then I didn't know who he is!"

"ok!"  
Meredith gets a serious look "Alex! Do you think that they want to be friends with me or with Ellis's Grey daughter?"

"I don't know! But who cares, you have me! Or what? I am not enough for you anymore?"   
Meredith laughs "Of course, you are!" and getting out of the room, she smacks his arm.  
Alex starts to rub his arm "ouch… what was this for?"

"I can't believe that you were accepting my uncle's money to spend the time with me!"

"hey, but wasn't I spending them with you too?"

"Yeah, you were buying me the cheapest ice cream!"

"Do you think he was giving me a fortune? Seriously Meredith he was a moneygrubber, considering how hard to handle you were." he said laughing

"You are so mean!!! I hate you!"

"I know!" 

Back downstairs.   
Izzie greets her "No offense Meredith, but this house looks very bad! I think we need a plan! I say each of us cleans its own room, and the girls clean the kitchen and the living room and the boys the bathrooms and the office, what do you say?"

"I agree!"  
Alex is the first one that protests "No way! Why do we have to clean the office? There are dozens of books to be dusted and it will take us forever to clean it."  
And George sustains him, "I agree with him! We should do it together at least!" 

The door bell rings and Meredith answers.

"Hi Christina!"   
"Hey!" she comes inside and gives a look around "This looks really bad! How are we going to clean it!"

"Izzie has a plan!"

"I hope it is a good one!"  
Right then Meredith has an idea and smiling at the others, "She said you can clean your room and maybe you will want to clean the office!"

"Does your mom still have her books here?"  
Meredith nods with content "of course!"

"Let's start then!" Christina has started to rub her hands while Meredith winked at the others. 

Later that night they finished the cleaning.

"Meredith, we need new sheets, new towels, new curtains."

"We'll start our shifts at 12 tomorrow, we can go and buy them Izz"

"Great!" 

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

"Grey, Stevens, you're late!" Both of them are greeted harsh by Bailey.  
Meredith and Izzie are looking at each other.

"We're sorry Dr. Bailey, we had a small problem this morning!" Meredith tries to excuse her and Izzie.

"Do I look like I care? I don't think so, so leave the excuses for someone who does. Stevens you are with Dr. Shepherd today and I think you have just missed the chance to assist him to the surgery he has soon; go and find him before he scrubs in! Grey you are with me!" 

Izzie finds Derek.

'Dr. Shepherd! I am your intern today!"

"You must be Dr. Stevens! You're late!"  
Izzie angry that she was late "I'm sorry!" and starts mumbling "Meredith can't sleep if she doesn't have satin sheets!"  
Derek gives her a weird look "Excuse me?"

"Oh no, I'm sorry! I was talking to myself!"

"I am scrubbing in now and since you were late I won't late you assist, so now go and check my post op patients. I'll see you later!" 

Izzie left to start her work and Derek smiled at what Izzie has just said. 

After he finished the surgery, Derek saw Meredith at the nurse's station filling a chart.

"Satin sheets huh?" He asks her smiling  
Meredith tries to ignore him.

"Are you going to spoil by yourself alone in those?"  
Meredith looks at him laughing and she leaves. 

Later that day Mark finds Bailey on hallway

"Dr. Bailey, can I have one of your interns?"

"Umm… you can ask Dr. Grey, she's free now!"

"But she is …"   
Bailey cuts his words right away "Dr. Sloan I don't have time right now to discus your preferences or to chat … just go and find her!"  
And Bailey left leaving Mark in daze.

"But I asked for an intern, not for an attending!" And confused he went to find dr. Grey; but the wrong Dr. Grey. 

He finds Ellis.   
Mark still very confused doesn't know how to ask. "Dr. Grey!"

"Dr. Sloan! May I help you with something?"

"I asked Dr. Bailey for an intern, but she told me to come and find you!"

"If you asked her for an intern, then go and find the intern she told you!"

"But she said Dr. Grey!"

"Then go and find Dr. Grey … the intern!"

"Who?"

"Dr. Grey! Meredith Grey!"

"What? Dr. Grey like …?"

"The girl you were flirting at the mixer? Yes! That is Dr. Meredith Grey! My daughter! Now please excuse me, I have a lot of work to do!" 

Mark is in complete shock. He flirted with Ellis's Weber daughter, the same daughter that apparently Derek is having an affair with.

At lunch, Mark finds Derek in the cafeteria. First he buys himself some food and then he goes to Derek.  
Mark slams the tray on table "Are you out of your mind Derek?"  
Derek jumps "What is wrong with you ?"

"What is wrong with me? What is wrong with you, Derek? Man, take a cold shower and chill out or let me introduce you to a nurse at least, but Seriously Derek, Ellis's Webber daughter?"

"Could you yell louder? I don't think the other side of the hospital heard you!" and he starts laughing "What now, she's no longer Dr. Meredith?"

"Derek, this is not funny! Richard is our chief and Ellis is the most respectful and powerful surgeon from our country, can you imagine what they would do to you if they find out about you and Meredith? This could put end to your career!"

"You are exaggerating Mark, and besides there is nothing between me and Meredith. It happened one time, and at that time, we didn't know each other."

"You are expecting me to believe that yesterday when I found her in our house it was just a sleep over?"

"I thought that you know me better!"

"I thought so too, but it seems that what happened between you and Addison affected you deeply. I understand that you are trying to get over it, but Derek, Meredith is not the solution. If you are that desperate, I know a nurse from our floor that might help you with that."

"Thank you for your concern, but I don't need your help! I am doing fine by myself."

"I am sorry to be the one to tell you this, but you are not doing that fine!" 

In that moment, the interns are coming in noisy. 

Mark and Derek hear them and they both look at Meredith who is laughing about something that one of her friends said.

"You have to resist the temptation Derek! Stop looking at her!"

"You should stop too! You keep staring at her!"

"No, I am not!"

"I am not either."

All the interns are sitting on a table.  
Meredith sees Derek and Mark at the same table.

"There is Dr. Sloan! I have to give him this papers he asked me to!" pulling out an envelope from her lab coat  
Alex whispers to her "Dr. Shepherd is there too, so you'd better wait for Sloan to be alone!"

"Why? It's not secret information!"

"You know I mean Mere! Stay as far as you can from him!"

"You are overreacting Alex!" And she stands up and goes to their table. 

Mark sees her coming.  
Meredith without looking at Derek, "Dr. Sloan! Am I interrupting?"  
Mark starts smiling at her, "Dr. Meredith! You are not interrupting! you are very welcomed!"  
Meredith handles him the envelope "Here are the papers you asked for!"

"Thank you!  
Derek gets a little jealous seeing that scene, "Hello Dr. Grey!"

"Dr. Shepherd!" and she returns her look to Mark "I have to go and eat now!"

"Ok! I'll see you after lunch!" 

And Meredith goes back to her table, from where Alex watched her and shook his head when he saw her coming back.  
Alex whispering again "What are you doing Mere?"  
Meredith smiling at him "Work stuff!"   
Alex shakes his head again with disapprove. 

Back at Derek's & Mark's table.

"You were flirting with her, Mark!"

"no, I wasn't!"

"Yes, you were! What happened with _"are you crazy? Ellis's daughter, Richard's and Ellis's influence"_?

"You really are jealous! You fell for her, didn't you?"

"That's nice Mark, you changed the subject!"

"I am still sustaining what I said. Meredith Grey is bad …" looking at her "…but also good!"

"So you are allowed to hit on her and I am not?"

"None of us is allowed Derek. Please let's drop this subject now!" 

After work, in their locker room.  
Meredith sits down on bench and looks at the others, "What do you say about going out for a drink now?"

"I'm sorry, but I am exhausted; this last days they got me powerless, so I'll go home straight to bed!" Izzie excuses herself while she is putting her street shoes on.

"I'm coming!" Christina slams the locker and joins Meredith on bench

Alex is checking his face in mirror, and then he looks back at Meredith, "I'll catch up with you later, I still have some work to do!"

"I'm coming too!" George confirmed. 

They got at Joe's and sit at the bar.

"Hi, Joe, right?" Meredith greets him smiling

"Yes, and you must be … Meredith? If I remember right!"

"That's me!"

"What can I give you this time?"

"Some tequila!"

"Again?" Meredith nods "Are you sure?" and she nods again "Ok!"

"I'll have a beer!" is George's choice

"So do I!" Christina asks  
Joe gave them the drinks, and after each shot of the tequila that Meredith had, Joe was smiling and looking in a corner of the bar.

After she takes the last sip from her beer, Christina stands up ready to leave "I am going home" she grabs her jacket and looks at the others.

"I'm coming too! Meredith?" who was standing sad looking at her shot

"No, I'll wait for Alex to come! I'll see you home!"

"Ok, and take it easy with the tequila." George pats her back with sympathy and Meredith nods. 

After Christina and George left, Meredith was standing alone at the bar.

"Is everything alright Meredith!"  
Meredith sighs "No, nothing is alright Joe!"

"I think you need someone to cheer you up!"

"No, I don't need someone, I just need this" taking another shot  
Joe is looking behind her and smiles "I know someone who will!"

"That looks dangerous for you!!" a voice told her 

Meredith froze; the voice and the line were well known to her. Then Derek comes and sits next to her.  
Meredith sighs and tries to ignore him again.

"What made you come this time and drown your self in alcohol?"

"Dr. Shepherd! Hi!"   
Derek laughs "Dr. Shepherd made you?"  
Indeed, Dr. Shepherd made her come but she didn't say anything, she just looked at him.

"Is he your boss?"   
Meredith nods.

"Then forget about your boss! If he made you drown your sorrow, he must be just an ass!"   
Meredith laughs "But what made you to drown yourself in alcohol?" seeing the scotch from his hand.  
Derek is laughing too "Also a doctor! I am her boss!"

"So if you came here to get drunk, it means that you did something bad to her and now you feel guilty! So you are an ass and she's just a poor girl with an ass boss!"  
Derek laughing "I did something to her but it wasn't something bad!"

"But you do feel guilty!"

"I do! A little! She has her part of guilt too!"

"Ok, but you are her boss so you should have control it not to happen anything!"

"At that time I wasn't her boss!"  
"Ohh…"  
Alex comes in and sees Meredith with Derek alone at the bar.

"Here you were Meredith!" He comes and sits next to her.

"You've found me!"

"Dr. Shepherd!"

"Dr. Karev"

"You are late!"

"And you are drunk! Let's go home!"

"Nooo, Not now! Let's stay a little longer! Drink something! Joe, give him a beer!"

"No, please! Don't listen to her, she is too drunk! Come on Meredith!"

"No Alex! Me and Derek we're having fun!"  
Alex is trying to get her from bar "You are not seeing well, he's Dr. Shepherd, remember? Your boss?"  
Meredith laughs "Noo! Dr. Shepherd is an ass, but Derek isn't!"  
Derek is laughing seeing Meredith so drunk and hard to handle.

"Meredith, you can't call your boss and ass!"

"Why? We both …" pointing to her and Derek "…agreed that Dr. Shepherd is an ass!"

"Do you need help to take her to car!"

"No, Dr. Shepherd…"

"Derek, Alex; he is Derek…"  
Alex is trying to hold her on her feet "and you are very drunk" looking at Derek "Thank you but you "helped" more then it was necessary! Come on Mere! One foot in front of the other and slowly until we get to our car!"

"Good Night Derek!"

"Good night Meredith!"

When they arrived home, Alex took Meredith, who was almost passed out, in his arms and carried her to her room. When he put her down in her bed, Meredith started to wake up again.

"I hate you Alex!"

"I know Meredith, now sleep, you are too drunk to talk!"

"Dr. Shepherd is an ass" she said laughing

"Both, Derek and Dr. Shepherd are asses, now sleep!"   
Meredith is almost asleep "No, Derek is …" she sighs "…dreamy …so McDreamy!"

"Please Mere! Don't start with the McNames again!"  
But Meredith didn't hear him because she already felt asleep.  
Alex took her shoes and her pants off, and covered her with a blanket! He gave her a kiss on forehead and let her sleep. 

After Alex took Meredith home, Derek stayed a little longer at Joe's then he headed home. Once he arrived, he throw him self on the couch from living room. He covered his eyes with his arms. If anyone would have seen him, it would have said that he is sleeping, but from time to time he was letting out a small laugh.  
Mark, who was just coming home, found him this way. He threw his keys on the table next to the couch and made Derek jump.

"Are you drunk Derek? You couldn't get to your bed?"  
Derek stands up in his sit "No, just too tired!" and Mark sits next to him.

"What's the problem? Oh wait, I already know … the women!"

"I thinking I am going to buy a dog!"

"What?"

"I want to buy a dog!"

"Why?"

"I have always wanted a dog!"

"Is it because of your love life?"

"No, I just want a dog!"

"Right now you are behaving like a child Derek! Who is going to take care of the dog while we are at work?"

"It will stay alone until we get home!"

"No way! Derek we in case you didn't notice we are leaving in a flat. I don't even think that we are allowed with pets inside, plus we are doctors and we work many hours, so he can't stay here the entire day alone."   
Derek sighs disappointed "Ok, I am going to bed now! Good night!"

"Good Night Derek and I hope you'll feel better tomorrow!"

**----**

**Please leave me your impressions. I apologize for any miss spelling!**

**If you want to, I will come up with the next chapter… sooner than this one. But if you found this difficult to read, than I understand. Just tell me not to post it!**

**Thanks!**


	5. Do you miss her already, Doc? So do I!

**Chapter 4- "Do you miss her already, Doc? So do I!"**

4 a.m. next morning, at Meredith's house.  
Alex bends over Meredith and nudges her "Mere! Mere, wake up!"  
Meredith groans "what … why?"

"Come on Mere, you need some fresh air to get over the hangover!"  
Meredith starts to open her eyes; she sees the clock "At 4 o'clock? Are you crazy Alex?"

"No, but you are hung-over so get up! Here's some coffee; go and take a shower and I'll wait for you downstairs!"  
"I…"  
"I know… you hate me, but you'll love me back later!"  
"I won't love you again!"  
"No, because you already love … McDreamy!"  
Meredith's eyes grow huge "Who?"  
Alex laughs and removes the blanket from her "Did you forget already? See? You were very drunk last night and luckily, I was there in time to save you!"  
"Yeah right, look where my hero was!"  
"We'll talk about this later, now hurry up!"

Alex went down stairs, where he found Izzie cooking!  
Alex gives her a kiss and pours himself some coffee "Hey Izz! What's up with you so early?"  
"I couldn't sleep! How about you?"  
"I'm trying to wake up Meredith from sober."  
"You two are very good friends!"  
"Yes, we are!"  
"It's sweet of you to take care of her!"  
"You can count on me too, to take care of you when you'll need!" he said putting his arms around her waist  
"As much care as you give to Meredith?"  
"Even more, but please don't tell her!"  
Izzie laughs "I won't, I promise! Do you want to eat now?"  
"No, I want to take Meredith out for a run first, then we'll eat. Do you want to join us? There is nothing more refreshing then a run early in the morning!"  
"It's not a bad idea! Wait for me to get change and I'll come!"  
"Great!"

After a few minutes, Christina and George are coming into kitchen too.  
"Hey, you are up early too!  
George groans and takes a sit on table "Yeah, Izzie woke me up; she's throwing with things in her room!"  
"She's coming with me and Meredith to jogging! Do you wanna come too?  
"I don't know; I guess I will, now that I am already awake!"  
"Christina?"  
"Seriously Alex, I didn't wake up at 4 in the morning to waste the time jogging!"  
"Then, what are you going to do until 7 when the shift begins?"  
"The pre rounds"  
Alex: At 5?  
"Do you think that I am the only intern who tries to get the best cases? I have to be there before them!"  
Alex and George are looking at her strange.  
"This way I might scrub in, while you will be doing sutures and rectal exams in the pit."  
"ok, forget I asked!"

The jogging helped indeed Meredith to wake up from the hangover and helped her to remember the last night from the bar too, where she met Derek again. She remembered everything they talked about, even calling him and ass, and later calling him McDreamy.  
_"OMG, if I started with the McDreamy, then it's bad… very bad. But McDreamy…" _she was thinking _"…He really is a McDreamy. Damn it! I hate him being McDreamy!"_ While she was running, her thoughts with Derek were running with her too.

Later, in locker room, she takes Alex aside.  
"Alex, did I call him McDreamy while he was still present?"  
"No! When he was present, you called him "ass". You called him McDreamy when we got home."  
Meredith sighs with relief "Good!"  
"From now on, I forbid you to go to that bar again. At least not when you are alone!"  
Meredith starts to be annoyed by Alex's preach "ok, ok!"

Bailey is coming in.  
"The assignments people… Yang- Dr. Webber, Grey- dr. Burke , Karev- Dr. Shepherd, Stevens- you are with me and O'Mailey you are making the charts today. Let's go and save some lifes now!"  
Everybody is getting out and Meredith whispers to Alex "You are not going to kill him, aren't you?"  
Alex laughs "Don't worry Mere! Your prince charming is safe with me! I know how to cross a line between the job and the private life!"  
Meredith feels herself offended "Fine! Good for you!"

"Dr. Shepherd, I am your intern today!"  
"Good morning Dr. Karev! How is … Dr. Grey feeling this morning?"  
"Is she one of our patients?" he asked accusing "Because I saw her coming on her own feet at work this morning!"

At lunch Alex sees Derek alone in the patio, so he takes his tray and goes to his table, "Dr. Shepherd!"  
"Dr. Karev!"  
"Dr. Shepherd, with all the respect sir, coz you are my boss and I don't want to be rude, so try to consider this out side the work…"  
"Ok, I am listening!"  
"I think you know what I want to talk to you about!  
"About Meredith!"  
"Exactly, Meredith! I don't know what are your intentions with her, but she is my friend … not just my friend … my best friend and I don't want to see her hurt and I definitely I don't want her to see her drunk and messed up because of her boss. So please stop doing … this to her."  
"But I am not doing anything to her!"  
"Something you are doing to her! So, please stop it!" he stands up and leaves

In the same time Christina, Meredith and George are coming in the patio too. They all buy food and sit at the table where Alex was staying.  
After sitting down, Meredith sees Derek, who was looking at her. Their eyes are looking at each other like hypnotized. Alex notices that and shakes Meredith's arm.  
Meredith snaps at him annoyed, "What?"  
"What are you dreaming at?"  
Meredith starts to eat and avoids his look "On nothing! Let me eat!"  
But Alex knows what kept her look, so he looks back at Derek, who is still staring at her.  
Derek sees Alex's threatening look so he looks back in his tray. 

"OMG Mere, your mom is fantastic!" Christina needed to add as an eulogy.  
"My mother? Do you mean Dr. Webber, she's is fantastic, my mother is not fantastic at all!'  
"Oh…ok. Dr. Webber is fantastic!"  
"What did she do?  
"Everything that she does is fantastic, even when she's talking with her patients."

Meredith felt a little hurt by this; she knew her mother could be fantastic even when she just talks to her patient, but she when she talks to her daughter she is no longer that fantastic.

"I heard that none of the new interns could stay and assist her at the entire surgery by now." George said.  
This caught Christina's attention "What do you mean?"  
"I heard that she is asking a lot of questions about the procedure that it is supposed to be made, and if you miss one answer she bans you from her OR."  
"Is it true Meredith?"  
"Yes, it's true; but I am sure you are very well prepared, so maybe you'll be the first from us who will assist her until the end of the surgery!"  
Christina looked at her "Are you alright with this?"  
"Of course, why wouldn't I be! She is the best teacher from this hospital"_ " and the worst mother in the world"_ she said in her mind "Does she has any surgeries today?"  
"yes, in about 2 hours! I think I'd better go and study more!" She stands up to leave  
"Good Luck Christina!"  
"Thanks!"

After Christina's leaving, Izzie came at their table.  
Everybody was talking about their day and their cases, except Meredith who was just listening to them. Actually, she wasn't even listening; she was trying to eat, but Derek was looking at her again, and each of his glances was making her swallow with difficulty the food. All this until one point when she excused herself and left.

After work George, Meredith and Alex are in the locker room changing their clothes.  
Meredith lies back on a bench "I am so exhausted!"  
Izzie is coming in too.  
"Hey Izz! What's the matter you look down!"  
"I am down; Bailey kept me running all day, from now on I will never jog with you in the morning; plus I am starving, we skipped the lunch today!"  
"We are almost ready to go home!"  
"I heard that Christina had a surgery with your mother today, Meredith!" Izzie told her.  
"I know!"  
"I wonder how did it go?"  
"I don't know, but to be honest if Christina Yang didn't assist to the entire surgery, then I have doubts that one of us will do it soon."  
Alex starts laughing, "You're right! You might say that Christina is her real daughter, not you!  
Meredith laughs too "I know!" 

In that moment, Christina is coming in. Everyone looks at her and sees her depressed.  
"I need alcohol, a lot alcohol right now, so who is joining me at Joe's?"  
Meredith looked up at her "What happened?"  
"I didn't know all the conditions for a patient to be eligible for anti-inflammatory drugs in the celiac disease. Anyway, who's with me for a drink?"  
Izzie excuses herself "I am sorry, but I too tired; Alex and I are going home."  
Same does George "My mom asked me to come for dinner!"  
"Meredith, you are my only hope! Please!"

Meredith is looking at Alex. He told her she is not allowed anymore to go there by herself, and considering that Christina is going to get drunk, she will be like by herself. Alex is looking at her too, and seeing Christina begging he nods, and hoping that she won't get that drunk,.  
"Ok, but we won't stay long and we won't get too drunk either!"  
"This is my main purpose right now, to get very drunk."  
"Let's go!"

Outside the hospital, before each of them to go to its car, Alex takes Meredith aside again.  
"Be careful Meredith! If you are not back home by midnight you'll get in trouble."  
"Ok dad!" she says laughing

At Joe's.  
"Hi Joe!" Meredith greets him looking around the bar  
"Hey Meredith!" he sees her looking for someone "He's not here!"  
Meredith pretends that she doesn't know what he is talking about "who?"

"You know who!"  
"A secret love Meredith?" Christina asked her.  
"Noo!"  
"Too bad! I'd do anything for something like that right now! A lot of alcohol and good sex are the best cure for a bad day!"  
Joe is smiling at Meredith, knowing that this is the best cure for her too.  
"Not always, trust me I know better!"  
Joe smiles "What can I give you ladies?"  
"Just a beer!" Meredith requested   
"Tequila!"  
"Christina, I don't know how to help a drunk person, because I am always the drunk one that receives help so I think you should ask for something else!"  
"No, Tequila, and don't worry, I can take care of myself even when I am drunk."  
"Ok! You know better!"

The same time, at Mark's and Derek's apartment.  
Mark unlocks the door and comes in. A furious whoof greets him and he starts yelling "DEREK!!!!"  
Derek comes out of the bathroom. "What happened?"  
"First get this …cur out of my sight!"  
Derek gets the dog aside.  
"What is this doing here?"  
"He is not a cur, it's a dog and its name is Doc; good boy" he starts playing with Doc  
"You are officially insane! Now tell me who is going to take care of it when we are working and did you tell the administrator?  
"Stay calm Mark; I talked to him and he said we can keep it and he even is going to watch for it while we are at work, so you should try to be its friend too."  
"Oh Derek, you really need a woman, even if that woman is called Meredith Grey!"  
Derek ignores him "I am taking Doc out for a walk!"

At 5 o'clock, next morning.  
At Meredith's house, down in the hallway.

"Ready Mere?"  
"Ready!"  
"Let's go then!"  
"None else is coming with us today?"  
"Izzie and George said they are too tired this morning!"  
"…and Christina is too drunk."  
"You managed not to come drunk too last night! I am very proud of you!"  
Meredith laughs "Thank you Daddy!"

Arriving into the park they started to take the first tour.  
_"Come on Mere!! Where is your condition?" _Alex yelled from some more far ahead from Meredith.  
Meredith is running slow and breathing hard "Take it slow Alex …you are …killing me! I guess you'll find me here" she said sitting down on grass and resting her head on her knees.  
Shortly she stands up and starts running again slow, but a dog starts to follow her barking. She stops and the dog comes to her and starts wobble.  
"What a cute dog you are!!!" she cuddles it and sees its leash "Are you lost sweetie? Where is your owner?" she looks around to see if anybody is looking for it  
The dog starts running around her.  
Meredith laughs "Do you like jogging too? I'd love to jog with you, but probably somebody is looking for you!" so she sits down on grass again and the dog comes next to her.

"Here you are!!!"

A big silhouette appears in front of Meredith's, standing against the sun. She looks up to it and even if the sun was blinding her, she could recognize his face. "Derek?!"  
Derek sits down too and smiles at her "Thanks for not running away with him!"  
"Do you have a dog?"  
"Yes. Meredith meet Doc!" and to Doc "Doc this is Meredith!" and Doc barks and puts its head in Meredith's lap  
Meredith cuddles him "Nice to meet you Doc! It doesn't look like he likes the leash and the slow walk!"  
Derek laughs "It seems so!"  
Meredith to Doc "Are you ready for a run Doc?"  
Doc stands up and answers her with a bark.  
"Do you mind if I take him for a run?"  
"No, but can I join you?"  
"Sure!"

After 10 minutes of jogging Doc is running in front of them, Meredith is behind him and Derek behind them. "Let's stop for a while please!!!" he tries to catch up his breath  
Meredith stops too and Doc comes back to them.

"Wow, but you are in a good condition!"  
Meredith laughs, "You should see Alex! Only he can exhaust Doc!"  
Both of them take a sit down on grass again.  
"You and Alex are very close to each other, aren't you?"  
"Yeah! We have known each other for many years now!"  
"He cares for you a lot!"

"Sometimes he is my big brother and other times I am his big sister, but…" she starts laughing "…mostly he is my big brother!"  
"That's nice!"  
"Yeah! Are you ready for more jogging?"  
Derek smiles and shakes his head.  
Meredith laughing stands up "Let's go Doc! Your owner is too old and tired to keep it up with us!"  
"Hey, I am not old!"  
"Then why are you sitting there?"  
"I am just preserving my energy to keep up through the day!"  
"There is not such thing. The jogging refills you with positive energy, but you can stay there full with the exhausting and depressing energy that you have."  
Derek laughs too and watches Meredith rushed by Doc.  
Meredith stumbles on Doc and falls down. Doc starts playing and licking her, causing her a very hard laugh.

"Oh nasty!! … Doc …leave me!!!"  
"Come on Doc leave Meredith breath!" and he puts him the leash and gives Meredith the hand to stand up  
"Thanks!"  
She bends down to Doc and playing with its ears "You're as nasty as your owner Doc?"  
"Hey! I am not licking you the face!  
"That would be more disgusting than Doc!"  
"Now I am offended!"  
Meredith smiling at him "You should be!"

Alex comes to Meredith, but Doc starts barking at him.  
"Meredith!"  
Meredith laughs "Now if you have planned to kill me you should wait for later, because the dog might kill you before you do that!"

"Dr. Shepherd!"  
"Dr. Karev!"  
Meredith points to Doc "And meet Doc!"  
Alex bends down to him "Hi Doc!" and he wants to cuddle him, Doc growls at him.  
Derek laughing, "He doesn't like you either!"  
"He knows that you are going to punish me!" Meredith laughs at him  
Derek gives them a strange look "To punish you? For what?"  
Meredith smiles at Alex "We know why! It's time for us to leave!" She kneels down to Doc "Bye Doc, it was a pleasure to jog with you!"  
Doc barks and wobbles and Meredith gives him a kiss and leaves.  
"Good bye Dr. Shepherd!"  
"Good bye Dr. Grey!"

Doc barked at them and Derek watched her until she and Alex were out of his sight.  
"Do you already miss her Doc? So do I! Hey but you are luckier, she gave you a kiss, I just got a good bye!"

The morning of the same day, in the intern's locker room.  
Bailey "The assignments for today: Karev-pit, Grey-Ellis Webber, Stevens- Dr. Sloan and O'Mailey and Yang, dr.Burke needs you! Let's go now and try not to kill too many people today"  
After Bailey left, everyone looked at Meredith.  
"What? Do I have something on my face?"  
"Yes, the terrified look to work with your mom today!" Alex nods at her  
Meredith sighs "I knew that this day will have to come, but I hoped that not so soon! Anyway let's get over this day fast, even I doubt I will!"

----

**I'll try to update as soon as possible! I hope that you enjoyed it and as I said, in the future the fic will get better. Thanks for reading it!**


	6. Do you want to be Doc's nanny?

**Chapter 6- Do you want to be Doc's nanny?**

Meredith finds her mother.  
"Good morning dr. Webber!"  
Ellis greets her with a cold attitude "Good morning! Are you my intern today?"  
"Yes, I am!"  
"Ok then! Here…" and she gives her some charts "…are my post operated patients from yesterday …."  
Meredith interrupts her surprised "All this are from yesterday?"  
"Yes, write their status today, do their treatment, but first let's see our first surgical case for today." 

They entered into the patient's room. Bailey was already there.  
"Good morning Mrs. Lewis! I am Dr. Webber, this is Dr. Grey!" in that moment Derek comes in too "and this is Dr. Shepherd, our neurosurgeon. Dr. Bailey please present the case!"

"Corrine Lewis, 60 years old, with Parkinson diagnosis from 2 years ago, now she we found a small rupture in the right ventricle, she is admitted for a heart surgery and a neuro one."  
"So you decided to have the surgery for the Parkinson disease."  
"Yes, I want to try this surgery!" 

While Derek was talking to Mrs. Lewis, Ellis told Meredith to do all the pre tests that there were necessary and prepare herself, if she wants to scrub in. 

A little later, Meredith was making some research for her surgery.  
"Doc misses you already!"  
Meredith turns around and sees Derek, who was smiling at her. "I miss him too!"  
"This means that from now on we are going to be jogging partners?"  
Meredith laughs, "Do you think you can handle us?"  
"I'll do my best to keep it up with you! So, I can tell Doc to count on you tomorrow morning?"  
"No, you can't!"  
"Why? Didn't just say that you do?"  
"I've said, but if tomorrow will be raining, then I can't jog on rain."  
"Oh, you're right! I didn't thought on this when I took Doc!"  
Meredith laughs, "Like it or not you'll have to jog on rain!"  
Derek sighs "I guess so! So what are you doing now?"  
Meredith "I'm studying. I don't want to be banned from her surgery from the first minutes!"  
"Don't worry about it! I am sure you'll do very well!"  
"I hope so!"  
"ok, I let you study now and I'll pray not to rain tomorrow!" he looks back smiling at her.  
Meredith laughs and shakes her head.

Later that day in the scrub room.  
Derek whispers to Meredith "you look nervous!"

"I am nervous!"  
"You shouldn't be, there will be a familiar face in there with you!  
"This exactly why I am nervous!" And they both join the others in the OR. 

"I'll let you finish first with the heart!" Derek told Ellis when stepped in.  
"It shouldn't take long! Ready Dr. Grey?"  
Meredith takes a deep breath "Ready!"

"What is the first step that is has to be made now!"  
"an incision along the medial thoracic axle."  
"Good, show me how you do it!"  
"a 10 blade, please!"  
Very sure of herself she makes the incision!  
"Good, go on!"  
And she also opened the thoracic cage. 

All this time Derek was looking at her, very impressed by her accuracy and by the good team work that both, mother and daughter, seems to do together. In that moment everyone could see the professional analogy between them two. 

"Identify the aorta and the right ventricle."  
Meredith did it without any hesitation. Ellis continued to ask her many questions and Meredith didn't have any problems with the answers. 

Each time Ellis Webber was in the OR, the gallery was full, but this time it was even crowded because everyone wanted to see the first mother-daughter surgery. Her friends were there, also Richard and other attendants.  
"She started 20 minutes ago and she is still in there! She seems to do very well!"  
"Yes, indeed! 10 more minutes and she will beat my record." Christina said with a little envy.

Ellis: How do we transect the heart so that we can work at the ventricle, Dr. Grey?  
For the first time since she was in this surgery, Meredith felt her mind blocked and unable to say or think of anything.  
Ellis: Do you know the answer Dr. Grey?  
Meredith: umm …" she looks at Derek, who tries to encourage her "… I don't know!"  
"You can't step into an OR if you don't know exactly what the patient needs; this way you won't be able to save it so you would better not go in the OR! Dr. Bailey let's continue what Dr. Grey started!"

And Bailey took Meredith's place.  
Meredith stood there for a few seconds, unable to understand how could she missed the answer. Derek was looking at her, wanting to tell her something, but he knew that there is nothing to be said in that moment! It was Ellis's surgery and she had the right to keep or to ban her interns from her surgeries.  
Meredith stepped outside, in the scrub room. 

Izzie "OMG, she banned her own daughter from the OR!"  
Alex "Let's go see her!"  
And everyone, except Christina, stands up and headed to exit.  
"Christina!"  
Christina kind of disappointed because she won't see the entire surgery that her idol, Ellis Webber, was doing, "I am coming!"

When they came down, Meredith wasn't no longer in there.  
Alex "Where could she be?"  
George "Maybe she is the locker room!"

Later they found her crying down in basement.  
"I freaked out! I can't believe I freaked out, in front of my mother's!"  
Alex puts his arm around her "Meredith!"  
"It was a simple question, but I freaked out … I freaked out because of my own mother! How can I make her proud of me, if I freak out!"  
"She is proud of you and one day she will show it to you!"  
"In my best dreams, she will!" 

They all see the Chief coming.  
"May I speak to her?  
"Sure! We'll go back to work! I'll see you later Mer!"

After what everyone left, Meredith is still crying.  
"You did the best you could! It was just one bad answer! But you did good!"  
"No Richard! I missed the answer because I got fearsome coz of her! I can't think straight when she is around, she makes me freak out! How can this be possible?"  
Richard hugs her "She is…difficult, but she loves you and she is proud of you!"  
"Proud of me? Seriously? When ? Probably only when I sleep, just then she feels proud of me!"  
"She is proud of you! You went through High School and the Med School, by yourself, you stood on your own feet and this made her very proud of you … now you got admitted here by your own power and she was proud of you, you started the work here, you saved a patient's life from your first day …and that made her proud too!"  
Meredith tries to laugh "Even if I yelled at my boss?"  
Richard laughs "Let me tell you secret, but this stays between us two : she used to yell at her attending too when she was an intern and later when she was resident … so she was happy to see her daughter doing the same thing as she."  
Meredith laughs too "She did?"  
Richard nods "You just have to give her time to show it to you! I know it's not easy for you, and that it never was easy, but she does care about you; she really does!"  
"You've showed me more love then my mother and you are not even my real father!"  
"I tried to be a real father and I tried to make your life easier with her!"  
"I know, and I do appreciate … a lot; you made indeed my life easier with her and I thank you for that!"  
"I am glad then!"

At lunch Meredith is waiting for the others in the patio.  
"Hi Dr. Grey! May I sit here?"  
"Dr. Shepherd! Sure !"  
"You did great in there!"  
"yeah right! Banned in less then 30 minutes"  
Derek laughs, "She banned me after 5 minutes the first time!"  
"She was your teacher too?"  
"Yeah! Not my favourite one, but is the one that taught the most! So it could have been worse!"

"I guess you're right!"  
"I was thinking on something!"  
"Like what?"  
"Do you like Doc, don't you!"  
"yeah, he seems like a good dog!"  
"And Doc loves you!"  
Meredith laughs "Ok"  
"I was thinking if you will want to be Doc's nanny!"

"Doc's nanny? Do you want me to do dog sitting?"  
"yeah, you could stay with it when you are off and I work, you could walk him in the morning and maybe in the evening too!"  
"Why did you get a dog if you knew you can't take care of it?"

"I can, is just that I need some help!"

"Do you need help? Really?"  
"Yes, I do. What do you say?"  
"Will you pay me for this?"  
"We can get to an agreement regarding this. I can assure you a proper breakfast in the morning and eventually the dinner too if you'll walk it on evening. What do you say?"  
"So you will just feed me?"  
Derek laughs "I can give you more, but then we won't be able to stay strictly professional! If you want, I can give up on our strictly professional relationship!"  
Meredith laughs and shakes her head with disapproval "I don't think it will work Dr. Shepherd; you'll have to find Doc another nanny!"  
Derek pretends to be disappointed "I thought you like Doc!"

"I do like Doc! Nice try anyway Dr. Shepherd!" 

The other interns are coming.  
"Dr. Shepherd!"  
"Dr. Karev!" Derek looks at Meredith smiling "I'll see you around!"  
"Bye!"  
"What did he want?"  
"We talked about the surgery"  
"yeah right!"  
"Seriously Alex! Did you know my mom it was his teacher too?"  
"Really?"

"Yeah"

While they were talking Ellis came at their table.  
"Dr. Webber!" Christina said seeing her coming at their table.  
And everyone else looks at her.  
Ellis: Can any of you tell me the clinic diagnosis for the benign tumor on liver?  
"the liver's volume increase" Christina answered very sure on herself.  
"this doesn't tell us anything; a big liver might be unsymptomatic" Ellis answered "any other ideas?"  
"a big and painful liver, the compression on the nearest organs, rupture in the peritoneum and accumulation of blood in it" this words came out instantly from Meredith's mouth. "good, here is Mr.'s Jackson's chart, prepare to scrub in this afternoon" and Ellis gave her a chart and then she left.  
Meredith is shocked.  
"Wow" was everything that Izzie could say. Everyone was impressed.  
"yeah … wow!! Now I am going to be kicked out twice in a day! I'll get in the hospital's history for this!" and Meredith started to laugh  
"Come on Meredith! It happened once, this time try to focus more! Stay calm, you saw that you are prepared for it! Don't freak out!"  
Izzie sustained what Alex has just said, "He's right!"  
George pats her back friendly "You'll do fine Mere!"  
Christina also encourages her "I don't see why you are so worried about it! You have it in your blood!  
Meredith sighs "I guess so! I can't even eat now! I should go and make sure it won't happen the second time! I'll see you later!" 

The surgery started and again, the gallery is full; the interns, Richard and other people are there. Derek comes in too.  
"How is it going?"  
"They just started; she's doing good so far!" 

Derek watched Meredith during the entire surgery. She was looking surer of herself this time. She was performing the surgery mostly by herself, assisted by her mother. Their dexterity was very similar to each other.  
All the watchers could notice that and they were very impressed.  
The door opens and Mark comes in looking for Derek. He found him watching carefully what was happening down in the OR, like he didn't want to miss anything.  
"Are you ready to go Derek?"  
Derek keeps looking at Meredith "Yeah … in a minute!"  
Mark curious to see what Derek was so captivated by "Anything interesting here?" he looks down in the OR and sees Ellis and Meredith "Oh … of course, something very interesting" he is smiling at Derek, but he continues to ignore him "how is she doing?"  
"Very well!"  
Izzie sustains Derek "She is doing extraordinary! The surgery is almost ready and she has done everything almost by herself so far!"  
Richard very proud "She is good!"  
Even Mark is impressed "Like mother like daughter!"  
Christina with a little jealousy in her voice "I have to eat all the medical books! I want a surgery like this!" 

After the surgery finished, the watchers started to leave. Richard, Derek and Christina were the only ones left there, but as the surgery was coming to an end, Richard and Christina left too. Derek was the only one who left the room when Ellis and Meredith left the OR.  
The surgery took very long and everyone had already finished their shift.  
After she changed her clothes, Meredith headed to the parking lot. In the main lobby she met Derek, who was pretending like he was just getting ready to go home, but in fact he was waiting for her.  
"Congratulations Dr. Grey! You made it from the second try! I am jealous, coz it took me three tries!  
Meredith grins "Watch out for your position as head of neuro!"

"Now this sounds like a threatening!" 

Meredith smiles. Arriving in the parking lot, she sees that everyone left and she doesn't have car. Derek was happy to see that, but not for long.  
Ellis and Richard were coming there too.  
"It looks like your ride already left! We'll take you!" Ellis motions her to follow them

Derek and Meredith look at each other a little disappointed.  
"Good night Dr. Grey! Doctors!"  
"Good night Dr. Shepherd!" 

Richard and Ellis took Meredith home. The road was quiet. They only talked about the last surgery.  
Arriving at Meredith's house, Richard, who was driving the car, parked it on the drive way.  
"You will be great surgeon, is just one thing that you have to do to accomplish it …Play by the rules Meredith! If you will play by the rules then be sure of your success!" 

The house was dark, sign that none is there yet. _"they must be at Joe's!_ she said to herself. She was tired, so she got into bed right away feeling like she will fall asleep in the next second. But it didn't happen like that. She was tired, but the hole day passed through her head; the morning with Derek and Doc, the surgeries with her mother, the conversation with Richard and especially her mom's words _"Play by the rules Meredith!"_… this made her think again on Derek. 

The next week was a rainy one, so Meredith couldn't jog with Doc and Derek. Derek was reminding her everyday about how depressed Doc was because of this, and he was hoping that he will convince her to make Doc a visit.  
The second day after the surgery with her mother, Meredith worked again with her. She scrubbed in another two surgeries, one she managed to finish it and the other she was banned again after a couple of minutes. She was also just once Derek's intern that week.

-----

**As I've said it before, this is poor written but it will get better in time, I promise! This was one of the first fics that I have ever written, so I was less experienced then. I've started to write on this a long time ago!**

**I hope that you like this chapter!**


	7. Dog sitting? Like a nanny?

A week later. Meredith was having the day off, so around 8 o'clock she decided to get out of the bed. It was the first sunny morning after a whole cloudy and rainy week. She had some coffee and some breakfast and than she thought she should take advantage of that day and go and run in park.   
Once she arrived there, she put her ipod on play and turned the volume loud. After a few rounds she felt tired, so she collapsed on the grass and she started to stare at the sky. She wasn't thinking on anything; she felt that it could be a good way of meditation, but nothing was coming in her mind. So she just continued to stare. She was feeling like she was really enjoying that.

Derek had his day off too that day, so he didn't hurry to get Doc out for a walk very early in the morning.  
While they were walking (actually Derek wanted to walk, but Doc was dragging him), Doc started to bark at someone and pulling Derek even faster after him.  
Soon Derek saw why Doc was barking. It had seen Meredith laying down and wanted to run to her.  
Derek smiled "Well Doc, I think we are lucky today!"  
Listening the music loud, Meredith didn't hear Doc barking.  
Derek noticed that too, so because he wanted to take Meredith by surprise he tight up Doc's leash on a bench, not very far from the place that Meredith was.  
Derek: Now be a good boy and wait for me here! I want to be the first who says hello to her!   
But Doc kept barking. It definitely didn't like to stay on leash and less to stay tight.

Derek went to the place where Meredith was laying and laied next to her.  
Meredith was staring at the sky like hypnotized so she didn't feel Derek coming and sitting next to her.  
Derek stood there staring at the sky too for a couple of minutes. In the mean time Doc got tired of barking and wobbling so he gave up and set down with his head on his paws and just looked at his master.

After a couple of minutes, when he realized that Meredith wasn't going to move very soon, Derek rolled aside and looked at her.  
Soon Meredith felt someone's gaze on her and came back from her trance. She found Derek standing right next to her and smiling. She took the headphones out of her ears. "Dr. Shepherd?"  
"No, it's Derek!"  
Meredith stands up "What are you doing here?"  
"I have the day off so I came to walk Doc!"

When Meredith stood up, Doc saw her and it stood up too and started to bark.  
"Doc?" And she turned her look over the place where Doc was barking from "This is how you're walking Doc?" she then left to Doc.  
Derek laughs "I wanted to be the first one who tells you hello!"  
Meredith gave him a blame look.

"Hi Doc! Oh poor you!" she cuddles it "your owner doesn't have any clue about dogs!"  
Derek laughs "That is why I want a nanny for it; this way I can learn more!"  
Meredith laughs and rolls her eyes. She uncords Doc's leash and release it.

When it felt itself free, Doc started to run around them and jump on them.  
"I guess this means that you are begging for a run, right?"  
Doc barked. 

All three of them spent around 2 hours there, playing and running with Doc, until Doc finally was tired and set down, without any mood to run again.

"Come on Doc, you've been waiting for this day all week, now what are you doing? What if tomorrow will rain again, then you won't see Meredith?"  
But Doc was so tired that it didn't even open its eyes while Derek was talking to it!  
Meredith laughs "Let him rest! It's time for us to go home, even Doc is tired!"  
Derek sighs with disappointment "I guess you're right! I hope the whole month will have at least sunny mornings!"  
"I hope so too! I'll see you tomorrow at work Dr. Shepherd! Bye Doc!"  
"Or maybe tomorrow for another jogging session!"  
Meredith just smiled at him and waved. 

Around noon Meredith decided to take a ride with the ferryboat.  
She wanted to clear her mind, to clear her feelings, but same as in that morning she couldn't, so she just stared at the Seattle's surroundings.

"So you don't have time to show me the town, but you do have time to take yourself for a ride with the ferryboat"  
Meredith's trance was broke again. She looked on her right side and saw Derek standing again next to her smiling.   
"Sorry! This was something spontaneous! Is this your first ride?"

"Yes, and I was feeling nervous to travel alone by it for the first time!"   
Meredith smiles "I guess you won't be alone now!"  
"I am very lucky today! I feel that lucky that I can even dare to ask you to join me for dinner!"  
Meredith laughs "You shouldn't consider yourself that lucky!"  
"I know, but I can't help it!"

The silence felt over them for a few minutes.  
Meredith without looking at him "What brought you to Seattle?"  
Derek sighs "The need of a change!"   
Meredith looks at him "And did you find a right change?"   
Derek looks at her "Yes, I think I did!"  
Meredith looks back at water "That's good!"  
"What brought you back?"   
Meredith sighs "I thought I know, but now I don't!"  
"That bad is the returning?"  
Meredith looks at him again "No, not that bad!"

After another minutes of silence.  
"Do feel like for a confession?" Derek asks her  
"No!"  
"Too bad; this place is the best place for a confession!"  
"Why?"   
"Because here, right in this moment we are not co-workers; I am not your teacher and you are not my intern."  
"Why? Did you resign?"  
Derek smiles at her "No, but we are not in a hospital, we don't have lives to save; we are doctors only when our shift starts and when we are being paged! At least I am not considering myself a doctor in my free time! In my free time I am just Derek!"  
"You have a point on that! Do you have any confession to make?"  
"No, you?"  
"Me neither." 

Both turn to face each other. The wind was blowing making her hair to cover her face. There wasn't any distance between them, Derek was staying very close to her; so close that her hair was touching his face too. Derek brushed her hair from her face and he was trying to keep it behind her head; brushing her hair, his hands were also touching her face.  
He felt something magic in that moment; he liked Meredith from the first time he saw her, but now … now it was different.  
They were looking in each others eyes like someone put a spell on them and the time froze. He was charmed by her eyes and by the scent that she was exhaling.  
Derek's smile and his touch made Meredith's body, her soul to fill with a warm feeling. He was indeed a McDreamy.  
Holding her hair tight on back, he pulled Meredith close to him and after their body got in touch with each other, he pulled her mouth close to him and all their feelings were now trying to be released through that kiss. It was a hot kiss from all points of view.  
At one point Meredith pulled back; she covered his lips with her hands and turned the sight back to water.  
"My mother told that if I want to be the best I have to play by the rules."  
Derek turned his sight in the same direction as Meredith's and put one of his hands on her back "Some rules are made to be broken; some rules are made for a good reason, but others are useless"  
Meredith looked at him and smiled "You're saying that just to get into my pants!"  
Derek looked at her and smiled too "I don't need to say this, because I already was in you pants, remember?" then he looked back at the water. "Didn't your mother marry with her boss?" he asked her looking again at her.  
"They were having an affair since they were both attendants!"  
"Meredith, this is an unwritten rule! Do you have any ideas how many from the medical stuff are having a relationship with: an intern, a nurse, a resident, an attendant? Nobody speaks about this, because then everyone would see them favored and trust me I don't do favors!"  
"Then what's the point in sleeping with the boss!" Meredith said joking.  
Derek just answered her with a smile.  
"How about we go now and show you the town and maybe to eat something too?"  
"I've thought you will never ask!"

They got Meredith's car and left. After a small tour town and a meal at the restaurant, they arrived at Derek's apartment.  
"Now that you are here, come and say hello to Doc!"  
Meredith saw again the McDreamy smile on his face and she said ok, but just for a few minutes.  
Those few minutes turned into a few hours and soon the evening came and found Meredith still there.  
"It looks like I owe you now with a dinner!"  
Meredith looking at the window "It's already evening!"  
"This way you'll get your first pay for sitting with Doc!"  
"Are we going to order the food here or we'll go out?"  
"None!" he said smiling  
"I am telling you from the beginning that I don't cook!"  
"Seriously! I wouldn't put my nanny to cook; I…"   
"Correction: Doc's nanny!"  
Derek laughed "That's right! I wouldn't ask my … Doc's nanny to cook! I'll cook! Maybe this way I'll impress her! You go now and do your "job"!"   
Meredith laughed and went to stay with Doc.

After dinner they went out to walk Doc and after walk, they returned home.  
Doc fell asleep somewhere in a corner of the living room and Derek and Meredith set down on couch. Mark wasn't home yet.  
Derek put his arm around her shoulder and Meredith rested her head on his shoulder. None of them was saying anything; they were just enjoying the moment. When Derek kissed her head, Meredith raised her head and looked at him. Then Derek lifted up her chin gently and gave her a soft kiss. Meredith's lips got back his and got them connected into o passional kiss. Then Derek's kisses went on her face, then on her neck and her shoulders.  
Meredith was running her hands through his hair "It's… very…late"  
Derek continued to kiss her "this means … you'll have to … sleep here" and then he stopped and looked at her.  
Meredith just smiled and gave him a kiss, she slipped her hands under his shirt and then she started to unbutton it.  
Derek just from one move removed hers and his lips moved to her breasts, where also very easy he removed the bra.  
"I think your bed is more comfortable then this couch."  
"You're right!" And saying that he took her in his arms and carried her to his bedroom and closed the door  
The clothes went down very fast exposing their naked bodies.  
They collapsed in bed and Derek started to kiss her all over her body. Every spot he was kissing made her moan of pleasure. Being a neuro surgeon and not a regular one, one of the bests, he knew what nerves to kiss to make her moan harder.  
Later Meredith wanted to take over the control, but Derek pulled her back under him again. After all he was the teacher and she was the student, so she didn't resist him and let him teach her further.

The next morning Derek woke up first, holding Meredith on his chest; he looked to see what time is, and seeing that in just a few minutes the alarm was going to wake them up, he decided to be the one who wakes her up. So he cuddled her and gave her a kiss on forehead. Meredith opened the eyes when she felt Derek moving. Opening her eyes she saw him smiling.   
Derek got on top of her and kissed her "Good morning!"   
Meredith was running her hand trough his hair "Good morning! What time is it?"  
"Almost the time to wake up!"  
Meredith groaned and wanted to turn around "Then let me sleep more!"   
"What? We should not waste the time with the sleep …" and he started to kiss her again, first on her neck then down her body.  
Meredith giggled and tried to escape from under him "you should stop"!  
Derek stopped and came back to her face "Why? Are you afraid that we won't be able to stop?"  
Meredith laughed and pushed him away, then she gets on top of him "If I had known that the sex with a neuro surgeon is like that, I would have sleep with many by now!"  
Derek was holding her hair back "That would have been impossible, because not all of them might have been as good as me!"  
Meredith laughed "You are overestimate yourself!"  
They rolled again and Meredith was again under him "I don't think so!" and he grabbed her legs and put them around him.  
Meredith giggled "Derek stop! We don't have time!"   
"So do you admit that I am the best!"  
"I suppose you are!"  
"What do you mean you suppose! Now I am offended!"   
"Ok, ok ! You are the best!" she gave him a kiss "So we don't have time" right in that moment the alarm went off "See? It's getting late!" and she pushed him away.  
Derek sighed "Fine!"  
Meredith grabbed the sheet and wrapped it around her, and then she got out of the bed. She couldn't make even a step, because she felt herself pulled back into bed.  
Derek grabbed a part of the sheet and laughing "Where are you going with this?" he got her back in his arms.  
"Do you want me to go all the way to shower naked?"  
Derek nodded with a dirty smirk.  
Meredith laughed "I am sure that your roommate will love it!"  
Derek unwrapped the sheet from her: ok, you can keep it! But you have to share it with me!  
"No!"

"You still owe me a shower, remember?"

"Derek, we will be late!"  
"Don't worry about it, I am your boss's boss!"   
"Didn't you say yesterday that you don't do favors?"   
Derek kissed her "I did, but after last night I can make an exception for you!"  
"Then I am out of here!" and she struggled to get out of his arms "And we are over!"  
"Come on! I was joking! If you'll be late, Bailey will scream at you, will torture you and you'll stay away from the surgeries!"  
"And you're saying this like it is a good thing!"  
"It is not good for you, but it is good for me! Because then I will feel so guilty that I'll have to make it up to you!"  
Meredith laughed "Shut up! Ok, you can come with me, but just to get a shower!"   
They stand up and Derek, staying behind her, wraps the sheet around them "I can wash your back"  
Meredith laughed "Wash it only!"  
"The best way that I can!"

Coming out of the bedroom they were greeted by Doc.  
"Not now Doc! Later!"   
Entering in bathroom, Meredith blamed him "You are definitely a bad owner!"

They managed to shower only and Derek to wash her back.  
After they returned in bedroom, Derek went to find Mer's clothes.  
He fond Mark laying on the couch in living room.   
"Mark, what are you doing here?"

"Since you and your new girlfriend didn't let me get to much sleep last night, and this morning neither, I took your dog out for a walk and now I am trying to pull myself together to go to work! You should tell me from now on when you are planning to stay here over night, so that I can go and sleep somewhere else."  
Derek looked at him with a huge grin on his face "Are you jealous?" and started to look around the living room.  
Mark stood up and handed him a shirt and a bra to Derek laughing "Take this, I don't think our intern would like to walk naked through hospital today! And I thought I get the best sex!"   
Derek grabbed them "Thanks!" and he turned around to go back to Meredith  
"This dog seems to help you even with the untouchable chicks! I think I will walk it more often from now on!"   
Derek laughed "I don't think you will be as lucky as me!"   
"I'll try my luck anyway!"

Coming back in bedroom, Meredith took the shirt and the bra from him and started dressing.   
"We should hurry otherwise Sloan will find me here!"  
"Mark already knows you are here!"  
Meredith looked worried at him "He does? How?"  
Derek kissed her and smiled "It seems that we were pretty noisy last night!"  
"oh, no!"

"Hey, don't worry about him! He won't say anything to anyone!"  
"Ok, but still it is awkward!"  
"You don't have to feel ashamed in front of him; he is like the biggest manwhore alive!"

After they got dressed, Derek told Meredith to come with him in kitchen for a coffee and some breakfast.  
In there they found Mark who has just poured himself some coffee.  
Mark smiling suggestively at them "I made coffee! Good morning dr. Meredith!"  
"Thanks! Derek took the cups for him and Meredith  
"Good morning dr. Sloan!"  
Mark wanted to say something, but Derek saw him and made him a sign to shut up thinking that he might say something nasty and Meredith will feel more embarrassed then she already does.

All three of them, together with Doc, who was going to stay with the building's administrator, went outside the apartment and called the elevator. 

"So … Meredith, can I call you Meredith?"  
"Mark!"  
Meredith looked back at him and smiled "You can call me Meredith, if you want!"  
"Ok. So, tell me Meredith, you and Doc seem to be friends and knowing each other from some time."  
"She walks it from time to time, and now shut up!" Derek interfered fast.  
After a short pause.  
Mark was laughing "She is doing dog sitting? Like a nanny?"  
Derek just glared him.  
Mark was still laughing "And you are sleeping with your dog's nanny? Awesome! I want a nanny too! Meredith, can you be my nanny ?"  
Meredith laughed "I don't think so!"   
"Mark, shut up!"

"Come on, I can even bark and lick your face if you want! Linking the face …hmm.. I kind of like the idea of being a dog!"  
"You can even pee on a tree, but you would still be a tramp dog and tramp dogs do not need a nanny!" Derek snapped at him for his dare.  
"You know Meredith, I can be reclaimed!"  
"Mark!!!"  
Meredith just laughed and shook her head.

After dropping Doc to the administrator, they went down in the parking lot. Derek leads Meredith to her car and gave her a kiss, and then he went to Mark's car.


	8. I'll do my best to make her happy

Coming in the intern's locker room everyone could see the huge smile from her face.

"It looks like someone had a very good night sleep!" Izzie smirked at Meredith.

Christina: Or a very good night but without any sleep!

"Was that good Mer?" Christina asked her in the same dirty manner.

In the meantime Meredith had started to change her clothes and she answered them with just a look.

Izzie: "Wow! Cool! Who was the lucky one?"

Meredith: "I am not going to talk about my sex life right now!"

She put her scrubs on her and the street clothes in her locker room.

Alex takes her by surprise when nervously he slams the door from her locker room! "Exactly Meredith! Who was the lucky one?"

Meredith's smile disappears when she sees his reaction "What is your problem?"

Alex starts yelling at her "My problem? My problem is you Meredith! It seems that you are not listening to me!"

"I am listening to you Alex! Now drop it! I know what I am doing!"

Alex grabs her arm and shakes it "You do? Coz you don't seem to!"

"Alex, are you crazy? Leave me alone!"

Alex still holding tight her arm "You're playing with fire Meredith!"

Meredith tries to pull out her arm from Alex's grip "Alex, you're hurting me!"

Everyone else is looking socked at the scene.

Izzie is the first one who asks for an explanation "Alex, what are you doing?"

"What is your problem? Leave her alone!" Christina also interfered.

But Alex wasn't listening to any of them. Just in that second Bailey came in with the assignments.

Bailey yelling at Alex "Karev, would you please leave your girlfriend alone now and delay your little jealousy scene for when you'll get home?" Alex releases her arm "Thank you! Grey you are OB/GYN with doctor Margaret Peterson" and Meredith storms out the door, without forgetting to call Alex an idiot, "Stevens you are with dr. Burke, Yang with dr. Shepherd, Karev- pit and O'Mailey- Dr. Grey-Webber."

George panics "Me?"

"Yes, you; now leave and try not to make other scenes!" and she steps outside.

Izzie grabs Alex's arm "What was that all about? Are you indeed jealous Alex?"

Alex still very nervous "No, I am not jealous!"

"Then what was with that reaction, because you looked like blind of jealousy!"

Alex yells at her "I am not jealous, ok? Now drop it!" and he leaves too

Christina follows him and Izzie very angry after Christina, leaving George alone and in shock.

He was shocked the beginning by Alex's reaction, but after he found out his assignment the panic got him. "I am with Dr. Grey-Webber? Meredith's mother?" he asked himself almost crying.

After she left the locker room, Meredith went straight to elevator. She found Derek in there with other passengers. Derek sees her and his smile gets even bigger then it already was. Seeing him, Meredith's face lights up and her smiles gets its place back on her face.

Derek was staying somewhere behind the elevator and Meredith was in front of it. The entire ride Derek was giving her glances, glances that Meredith didn't see but she felt them. Stepping out on the obstetrical floor, Meredith almost forgot about Alex's scene and she was looking happy again.

Heading to the nurse's station to ask for her attending, she meets her mother. Even it was never a pleasure for her to meet Ellis, she was still looking happy.

"Good Morning dr. Webber!"

"Good morning dr. Grey!"

Ellis sees her daughter unusually happy and with a big smile imprinted on her face. So she grabs one of Meredith arms and checks it; then she checks the other.

"Are you looking for something?"

"I hope you are not taking drugs Meredith!"

"What? No! Of course not!"

Ellis looks at her suspicious "You do look high, so tell me what did you take?"

Meredith almost laughs "I would tell you, but I am sure you won't like the answer!"

Ellis drags her to the nurse's station, takes a test paper, and starts writing on it, then she hands it to Meredith. Meredith takes it and looks over it, then at her mother.

Meredith laughs "A drug test?! Seriously mom!"

"Meredith, look at you! Now go and do the test! Who is your attendant today?"

"Dr. Peterson."

"Good then! Since she is not here yet you have time to do it!"

"But it's not necessary!"

"I decide what is necessary for interns and what is not!" and she leaves

Meredith laughs "She thinks I am drugged!"

--------------------------------------

Christina meets Derek.

"Good morning dr. Shepherd!"

Derek greets her smiling "Good morning you too dr. Yang! Wonderful day, isn't it?"

Actually it was a regular rainy day in Seattle

Christina looks at him suspicious "umm … what do we have for today?"

"Well, I have for you some post op patients and a frontal lobe tumor!"

"but… what about the arm implant for the 5 years old girl?"

Derek laughs "Oh … so you are that kind of intern huh? Well if you will cheer up more through this day, then I might consider letting you to scrub in. You look depressed and this won't be good for that little girl's mood."

"But I am not depressed! I am very happy, see?" and she tries to fake a smile

"Nice try dr. Yang! But you didn't convince me! Here take this charts and check the patients, then page me" and he gives her a few charts and leaves

Christina follows him "You know Dr. Shepherd; a surgery is earned by work and knowledge, not by the intern's mood!"

"This case is a special one considering that the patient is just 5 years old; and our mood will help a lot!"

Derek keeps walking and Christina stops sighing and rolling her eyes.

-------------------------------

At lunch, Meredith sees Christina sitting down on a table in patio and goes to her.

Meredith still smiling and looking very happy "Hey Christina!"

Christina is still depressed "Oh please, I had enough of happy faces!"

"What is wrong?"

"Too much happiness around me! This is what is wrong!"

Meredith laughs "Come on Christina, maybe you'll get contaminate yourself too with it!"

"I hope not! But what happened to you? Did you already forget about what Alex did to you?"

"I didn't, but I won't let him ruin my day!"  
"Come on tell me! What is going on here? You are excessively happy and this is not normal."

Meredith laughs "My mom thinks the same thing as you; she even forced me do a drug test!"

"I would have asked you the same thing, if I haven't seen Shepherd!"

"What do you mean?"

"He looks just like you! Can you believe that he won't let me scrub in one of his surgeries if I don't get happy too?"

Meredith laughs "Then be happy!"

"No, thank you I …" and she stops

"What is it?"

"Did you have sex last night, didn't you?"

Meredith bits her lower lip and nods.

"And it was good?"

Meredith nods again.

"OMG Meredith!" she grabs Mer's arm and comes closer to her "Did you have sex with Shepherd?"

Meredith freezes.

Christina smiling "You did, didn't you?"

Meredith starts rumbling "umm…nooo…how …what …"

"Please, both of you are like an opened book; you are very easy to read! Especially since both of you are keep smiling like after sex!"

"Can you shut me down?"

"I can't! But you were lucky that your mom didn't figure it out the real reason!"

Meredith looks at her worried.

"Don't worry, I won't say anything and maybe there are not too many people that can read you! So you are screwing an attendant, huh?" she asked her, not smiling

"Shut up! And for your information, I screw Derek, not dr. Shepherd!"

Christina smiles "Yeah, right! Can you ask him a favor for me?"

"NOO!!"

"Good! Be selfish!"

"I am not selfish; I am not even asking favors for myself!"

"You're not??? Why? Then what's the point in sleeping with your boss, if you don't get favors?"

"Would you sleep with your boss for favors?"

"Of course!"

"I wouldn't!"

"Then why are you? Oh…Mer … are you in love with him?"

"umm…no…"

"So is just sex?"

"umm…yeah"

"I thought that Ellis's Grey daughter is at least as smart as her mother, but obviously I was wrong!"

"Did you ever sleep with a boss or a teacher?"

"I …" Christina started but she stopped when she saw George coming at them

"Hi!" he sits down and nervously starts eating nervously from his sandwich but after the first bite he chokes down

Meredith and Christina are looking at him worried.

Meredith pats his back "George!"

George stops from eating and looks at Meredith.

"Is everything all right?"

George shakes his head.

"Oh great, another weird one! George, you're Ellis's Grey intern today … you …"

"Exactly!" he cuts her words "Meredith, please help me! Tell me what should I do to get over this day successfully?"

Meredith laughs "You know George, she is not going to kill you, so don't worry about it! She might kill your confidence, but it's not that bad!"

"Meredith, I am serious!"

"So am I! Seriously, I can't give you any advice! Just try not to freak out! You do have some medical knowledge, so you should be just fine! What kind of surgeries she has today?"

"She had a stomach resection, but someone else already scrubbed in; and later she has a ventral rupture."

"A ventral rupture? This should not be difficult!"

"It's not, but I am still nervous! I can't even eat" he throws the sandwich back on tray "I'd better go and read more about the procedure! I'll see you later!"

"Good luck George!"

In the same time as George left, Izzie came and set down!

Nervously she slams the tray on table.

"This is a face that brights my day!" Christina said looking at her smiling.

"Tell me Meredith, what is wrong with Alex? Are you two having an affair or had one while you were in Boston?"

"No, we are just friends!"  
"Maybe, but his behavior from this morning it didn't look like a friend's one! Is he in love with you?"

"No, he is not!"

'I think he is, otherwise why did he react like that when you came?"

Meredith knew and in a way she understood Alex's reaction, but she can't say it to Izzie.

"umm…I … I don't know!"

Izzie sighs "I think all three of us must have a serious talk about this!"

"No! You and Alex must have one; my sex life doesn't concern any of you!"

Izzie notices that Meredith isn't eating anything she has just a bottle of water "You are not eating anything?"

Christina laughs "No, she feeds with sex!"

Izzie laughs too "Yummy!"

Meredith also laughing "Shut up!"

Right then Alex come too and sit down, between Christina and Izzie. Izzie looks at him angry, while he and Meredith are ignoring each other.

Christina sees Derek buying himself a coffee from the coffee cart.

"There's my attendant! I have to get ready! Cya later!"

Meredith and Alex knew who her attendant was, so they both looked at him.

Alex asks Meredith sarcastically "Aren't you going to do anything now?"

Meredith stands up and slaps his face.

Almost everyone around them saw the scene, including Derek.

"Those damn interns! Bailey said angry coming at the coffee cart where Derek was too

"What is happening with them?"

Bailey: They can't keep their personal lives outside the hospital." She pays for her coffee and leaves

After Meredith's slap, Alex grabbed her wrist and looked at her angry. Meredith pulled her wrist out of Alex's grip and answered him with the same angry look as his, then she left with Christina. Right after them, Izzie left too angrily, leaving Alex alone.

Meredith passed very fast by Derek. He wanted to talk to her, but she was too fast.

Christina to Derek "I'll go talk to her!"

She catches her on the hallway.

"Meredith, wait!"

Meredith stops and waits for Christina to come to her.

"Meredith, does Alex know about you two?"

Meredith: Yes, he does! He is not jealous; he is just too damn over protective! And sometimes he overdoses it! Like today, for example!"

"in this case he will have to find a good explication to Izzie, because he can't say anything about you and your sex partner."

"I know!I have to go back to work and you have to go back and pretend to be happy if you want to scrub in" she said smiling

Christina stops her "Show me that again!"  
"what do you want me to show you?"

"The smile! I wanna see how you are doing it!"  
Meredith laughs "Get layed and get your own smile!"

"I am getting layed, but I don't get a smile too!"

"Too bad for you! Change the partner!"

"Whatever!"

And both walk in separate ways.

---------------------------------------

Later, Christina finds Derek.

"Dr. Shepherd, here are the last test results for Mr. Kensly's.

Derek takes to papers and looks over them "It seems that the tumor is all out! Good! Go and prepare the girl for surgery!"

"Do I scrub in?"

"No, but you can assist! Is everything all right with your friends?"

Christina was angry for not scrubbing in, so knowing what he was referring at she tries to make him jealous "Everything is fine, why wouldn't it be?"

Derek didn't get the real sense of her words but he dropped it, not to make Christina suspicious about him and Meredith.

---------------------------------------

Meredith is at laboratory picking some test results, including hers.

"The results for Kim, Grant and Grey!"

"Grey? Are you sick Dr. Grey?" Derek came next to her.

Derek smiles and asks for his results too.

"No, just… a regular check!" she said it almost laughing, knowing the real reason

Meredith takes the labs, and she puts her envelop in the coat's pocket.

"Aren't you going to open it?"

"No, not now! I am sure there are ok!"

Both of them headed to elevator. Stepping inside they found just one person, which after the first floor it stepped out.

Derek was staying behind her. After they got themselves alone, Derek started to come closer and closer to her.

Meredith without turning at him "What are you doing Dr. Shepherd?"

"How is your day Dr. Grey?"

"Busy! Very busy!"

Meredith starts to feel his head in her hair.

"Dr. Shepherd!"

"Your hair smells different today!"

"Because I used your shampoo!"

"Today I'll go to buy a lavender shampoo!"

Meredith laughs "Good for you!"

The doors open at the obstetrical floor and Meredith steps outside.

Derek smiling "I'll see you later!"

Meredith without turning at him she waves a hand in air smiling.

---------------------------------------

In Ellis's OR, George already scrubbed in and the surgery is about to begin.

George was nervous all day, but with all this he could answer to all her questions without too much trouble.

But now when he knows that he has to operate with her he is even more nervous. He was shaking and cold sweats started to come down on his body.

"Dr. O'Mailey, lets start the procedure!" she hands him a scalpel

He hesitates to take it right away.

Ellis sees that and asks the scalpel back.

"If you'll shake like this each time you step into an OR, then be sure that your patient will die! Now go and find something to do down in pit until the end of your shift" to the others from the scrub team "Lets start!"

George steps outside disappointed.

Izzie saw him through the watching window and went out to find him. She found him in the scrub room looking very sad.

"George!"

George threw the scrub stuff from him "Not now Izzie! Please, leave me alone now!" and he leaves

---------------------------------------

Alex finished his shift before the others and left right away. Later Izzie and Meredith came in locker room too. They found George there very upset; he was already changed into his street clothes and was sitting on a bench looking at the ground. Izzie and Meredith looked at each other concerned, but they left him alone and started to change themselves too.

Christina comes in and sits down sighing, next to George. At first she ignores everyone, then she looks at everyone around her. She already heard about George and his surgery, so she looks like she wants to tell him something, but knowing that she might tell him something inappropriate, Meredith asks her first about how was her day.

Christina stands up and goes to her locker and starts changing "I don't even want to talk to you!"

"Why?"

Christina mouths "Because you had sex!"

Meredith knows what she means, so she drops the subject. She whispers her not to tell anything bad to George and Christina rolls her eyes and agrees.

George stands up and without looking at any of them "I'll see you home!" and he leaves

Shortly after him, all three of them leave too.

On their way to the parking lot, Meredith is paged by her mother. Then she remembers about the test's results.

"Go ahead! I forgot to do something!"

"ok, we'll meet you home!"

---------------------------------------

And she went back to her locker room to take the envelope from her lab coat and then she headed to her mother's office.

Coming out of the elevator on her mother's office floor, she meets Derek who wanted to go in it.

Seeing her, Derek stops and lets the elevator go.

"Dr. Shepherd!"

Derek smiling at her "Hello Dr. Grey! Are you ready to go home?"

"Yes, I just have to make dr. Ellis Webber a visit!"

"I can wait for you and then we can go and have dinner, what do you say?"

Meredith smiles "It sounds good" and Derek gets a bigger smile "but George had a problem and he needs all of us to support him, so…"

Derek thinking that she really was going to say yes, is disappointed when he hears that "I see! No problem! Some other time!"

"that's for sure!" (and she turns around and leaves

Hearing that, Derek smiled and watched her until she was out of his sight.

---------------------------------------

"You paged me!" Meredith stepped in her mother's office

"Dr. Grey, come on in!"

Meredith hands her the envelope "I know you want this!"

Ellis takes it and sees that is still unopened "you didn't even open it?"

"No, because I already know the results!"

Ellis opens it and reads it, then she looks at Meredith with her regular cold look "You're clean!"

Meredith smiles "Of course I am clean!" she answers her with an ironical tone "It's called happiness mom, live with it!"

Ellis slaps her with anger "Watch your tone young lady! I am still your mother!"

Meredith is shocked and with tearing eyes she storms out her office.

---------------------------------------

When she arrived home, Meredith was still in shock. She knew that she her tone wasn't a nice one, but her mother's distrust and her disappointment that she is just happy and not drugged gave her the right to use that tone.

She got out of the car and stepped inside. Her cheek was still red and a little swollen. Coming inside and seeing Christina and Izzie in the living room, she tried to avoid them, but Izzie seeing her coming in came to her fast.

"Meredith, we have talk to George! You have to talk to George!" she sees Meredith trying to hide her swollen cheek "Meredith, are you ok? What happened to you?" she wanted to take her hand off from cheek

Meredith pulled herself back "I am fine! I am going to see George!"

Confused, Izzie came back to Christina.

"Meredith looks like she has just been slapped! Do you think Alex, did it?"

"I don't know, but this is what happens if you have a complicated love life!"

"What do you mean by complicated love life? Tell me, what do you know?"

Christina stants up from the couch and leaves "I don't know anything! Good night!

Izzie sighs and looks worried in blank."

---------------------------------------

Meredith comes in George's room without knocking. She finds him in his bed with the face buried in pillow and crying, so she lays next to him staring at the ceiling. Tears start to come out of her eyes.

"She always says and does things that hurt the people around her. I don't know what to tell you to make you feel better, because if had known, then I would have tell them to myself too each time she hurts me! I am just ashamed that my mom hurts my friends too! I am always trying to make her feel proud of me; I have been studying hard since high school, so I graduated the med school, I got admitted in the best teaching hospital by my own power so if she is still not proud of me then I am and you (looking at him) … you should feel the same. Each time she blames me for doing something wrong I try to prove her that I can do things right too. And you should do the same George! I know it is not easy, but it is not impossible!

George rolls over to her and wipes his tears.

"It is damn hard and painful, but (sighs) we'll get used with Ellis Webber!"

They stood there staring at ceiling in quiet for another few minutes.

Meredith gets up "Good night George! Sleep well and I hope you will feel better by tomorrow!"

"Thank you Meredith!"

---------------------------------------

After she left from George's room, Meredith headed to hers. Christina saw her going in and she went after her.

Meredith's room is dark. She steps in and lies on her bed.

Christina comes in and turns on the light.

Meredith groans and turns her back to Christina, but Christina goes and lies down in front of her. She sees her crying and the slap's mark.

"Who did this to you? Alex?"

Meredith shakes her head.

"Shepherd?"

"No!"

"Meredith, what happened?"

"What happens for a very long time now! This is why I don't want you to judge me for sleeping with Derek! He is one of the few peoples that make me feel normal and special!"

"Do you know him that well?"

"No, I don't! But I trust him, I need to trust him!"

"Aren't you afraid that he will hurt you?"

"I am, but I am enjoying the moment, so that when I'll suffer again to have what to remember!"

"and you say I am weird!"

Meredith smiles at her.

"I let you sleep now! Good night!"

"Good night!"

---------------------------------------

After they left from hospital, Alex and Derek went to Joe's.

Alex got there first and ordered himself a beer.

Later Derek got there too. He saw Alex standing at the bar, so he went to him.

"a single malt scotch, Joe!"

Alex looks at him.

"Dr. Karev!"

"Dr. Shepherd!"

Joe gives him the drink and both drink in silence. After a few minutes, Alex speaks first.

"You know you are her new McDreamy!"

Derek looks at him a little amused, but sees that Alex is very serious.

"She had just one McDreamy before who proved to be a married with children jerk that played with her feelings and hurt her very bad."

"I am not married and I don't have kids either."

"Whatever, my point is that you can't hurt her too! I was there for her then and I will be there for her if you will make her suffer too, but it's very painful to see her broke. She is a good person, with a miserable childhood and a hard life, but she is a very good friend that always supports and helps the people around her. She deserves to be happy and I really hope that you can make her at least a little happy!"

Derek was very touched by Alex's words and he wanted to say something, but Alex cut his words.

"I am not threatening you, I am just telling you how the things are! That maybe I am going to smash your face if you hurt her? It is possible, but I really hope that it won't be necessary!" he pays for his drink and stands up to leave

"I'll do my best to make her happy!"

"I hope so!"


	9. Ellis the witch

The next morning Alex knocked first at Meredith's room. He stepped in and found her brushing the teeth in her bathroom.

Meredith came back in bedroom and set down on the bed's edge where Alex was sitting.

"I am sorry for yesterday Meredith! I over reacted I know! If you are happy, then I am happy too, no matter who makes you happy!"

"I know Alex! Thank you!"

Alex put an arm around her and cuddled her.

"But you have to find a good explication to Izzie for yesterday!"

"I know! I am going to see Izzie now!"

"Good luck!"

"Thanks! I'll need it!"

---------------------------------------

Coming out of Meredith's room, Alex saw Izzie coming out from hers.

Izzie also saw him where was he coming from.

"Izzie, we need to talk!"

"You didn't even consider it necessary to talk to me first, so I don't see the point right now!"

"Let me explain you!"

Izzie put her hands on her hips looking at him serious "Ok, I am listening!"

"Can we go in your room?"

Izzie invited him in.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, but she rejected him.

Alex sighed "Meredith is my friend and I care about her a lot; I saw her suffering before because of some jerks who played with her heart, so I am just worried about her!"

Izzie wanted to say something but Alex stopped her "I know I over reacted and maybe you consider that is not my job to protect her, but I feel like it is! I am not jealous, I just want to see her happy!"

"I understand that, but do you miss judge all of her boyfriends? You are doing the same thing with all the guys she's going out with?"

"No, just that some of them might be inappropriate and…"

"Inappropriate? Who is this guy? What makes you believe that he is not the right one for her?"

Alex didn't say anything. He couldn't tell her that Meredith was sleeping with one of her bosses.

"Alex? Who is he?"

"I am sorry Izz, but I can't tell you! I am not the one who should tell you! But this has nothing to do with the two of us!"

"Well now it does, because it seems that you don't trust me enough to tell me about Meredith's secret boyfriend!"

"Izzie, there are some things that Meredith and I share and that stays just between us!"  
"You know, if you don't trust me, fine … forget about it and forget about us!" and she stormed out of her room angry.

Alex went out after her "Izzie!!!"

"Don't Alex! Leave me alone!"

---------------------------------------

The interns were getting in elevator and when the doors were about to close, Derek stopped them and stepped in too.

He saw all five of them looking tired and as if they were lifeless. Alex and Christina were leaning on the back of the elevator's, Izzie was looking down sad, George was leaning his shoulder on elevator and Meredith resting her head on his shoulder.

When Derek came in, just Meredith and Izzie seemed to react at his presence.

Derek smiling at them "Well, aren't we all bright and shiny this morning!"

Nobody said anything, just Meredith gave him a smile and the rest of the ride was very quiet.

---------------------------------------

The assignments for that day were: Meredith with Derek, Christina with Burke, Izzie and George with Ellis and Alex with Mark.

George was worried again "The second day with Dr. Webber?!"

Izzie on the other hand seemed absent.

George was mostly talking to himself "But Meredith said that I can do it, and she is right…" he looked at Izzie "Izzie? Are you ok?"

"what? Oh … yeah…is just Alex you know… he says he is just her friend and that he doesn't trust in her new boyfriend … but… he doesn't want to tell me what is wrong with him, who is he? Why are both of them secretive about this guy?"

"Do you think she is having an affair with an inappropriate man?"

"Don't you? I mean, then why is not Alex telling me the reason he doesn't agree with their relationship? He doesn't even trust in me that I could keep the secret!" Izzie was talking to herself at that point.

"Izzie, can we focus on our day please?"

"oh … right! Let's go find her!"

They started to walk and after a while Izzie spoke again "Do you think he is married?"

George got annoyed "I don't know Izzie, but drop it!"

"fine!"

After a few more steps "Or he might be her boss? Like a resident or an attending?"

George couldn't help it and yelled at her "IZZIE!!!"

But Izzie continued to talk to herself "Her boss? But she didn't seem to get any special treatment from nobody!. … He must be married!"

"IZZIE! Maybe that is why Alex is not telling you anything about it, because you like gossiping about it!"  
"I am not gossiping! I am just curious … and intrigued … and angry! And shut up about this subject, we are Ellis's interns today and we should focus on that" she said it with a reproachable tone that made George to stop and look at her angry.

Izzie kept walking and without turning her sight to George "Are you coming today George?"

George sighed and hurried his steps leaving her behind!

---------------------------------------

Meredith was talking to Bailey.

"Dr. Shepherd has just one surgery scheduled for today and it is before lunch, so after lunch, if he doesn't need you come and find me coz I might need you!"

"Sure dr. Bailey."

Right then Derek walked over to them.

"Good morning Dr. Bailey, Dr. Grey!"

"Dr. Shepherd!"

"Dr. Bailey, do you have any intern for me today?"

"Dr. Grey is going to assist you! I have just told her that if you won't need her anymore after your surgery to come to me!"

"Ok, we'll see; it depends on how the day will be!" smiling at the idea of keeping Meredith for himself

"Thank you! Have a nice day and I'll see you later Dr. Grey!"

"Thank you dr. Bailey!"

After what Bailey left, Derek and Meredith went to elevator.

"Bad night?" Derek asked her.

Meredith sighed "Yeah!"

"Is everything all right with George?"

"Yeah …. I hope so!"

"So something else didn't let you sleep well last night! What is wrong?"

They stepped inside an empty elevator and Derek staid behind her.

Meredith without looking at him. "Something that always keeps me awake on night!"

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

"No Dr. Shepherd, but we can talk about our medical cases if you want!"

"Ok, we'll talk about them too, but now Derek wants to know what is wrong with Meredith!"

Meredith looked at him "Derek is somewhere outside the hospital and so is Meredith!"

Derek sighed "Ok! I guess I will meet her after work!"

After a few seconds he stopped the elevator.

"what…" Meredith wanted to protest, but her mouth was captured by his. He kissed her furiously until none of them could longer breath.

"I'm sorry!" after he pulled her away and tried to catch back his breath

Meredith was touching her hurting lips a little surprised by his kiss.

Derek looked at her serious and saw her staring at him not angry.

"I am sorry! I know will say that we are in a hospital and that this is inappropriate, but …" and he gave her a smile "I really needed to feel the taste of your kiss this morning! The coffee wasn't enough to refresh me!"

Meredith smiled at him and then she turned around without saying anything.

---------------------------------------

Izzie and George were coming out of a patient's room together with Ellis and other doctors.

"She really is amazing; I mean the way she talks to them and exams them!"

"She is, indeed!"

"Dr. O'Mailey, mr. Kinsley was your patient yesterday so today you'll observe him! Dr. Stevens follow me and start telling me everything you know about the neuropathology in diabetes."

Izzie told her everything that she knew about that topic, so Ellis told her to book an OR and prepare herself to scrub in.

---------------------------------------

At lunch in the patio, Meredith and Christina were having lunch.

"You look happy today Christina!"

Christina smiling at her stabbed the fork with food in mouth.

"I am intrigued!" Meredith smiled suggestively at her.

Christina kept smiling and eating without telling her anything.

Meredith smirked at her "Hot sex, huh?"

Christina avoided her look.

"Wait a minute… you slept home last night and this morning you weren't a ray of sunshine so…"

"I heard that Izzie got to scrub in with your mom!"

Meredith laughed seeing her changing the subject and understood "…so you had sex at work!"

Christina mumbled something about a surgery or so, but Meredith didn't give up.

Meredith still laughing. "oh my!!! So just yesterday you told me that you don't have any problem in sleeping with the bosses…so you have "a boss" too…"

"yeah, yeah, now you know, you're happy, you know that your secret will be safe with me from now on, but lets change the subject; I don't like talking about my sex life!"

Meredith wanted to keep up with the subject, but George came at them.

"Hey George! How is the day with the witch?"

"Are you calling your mom a witch?"

"Just from time to time!" Meredith giggled.

"It's good so far; Izzie is now getting ready to scrub in, do you want to come?"

Christina to prevent any more talk about her sex life with Meredith, she agreed.

"Meredith, are you coming?" George looked back at her.

"No, I prefer to stay here and eat in peace; just thinking of her makes me sick to my stomach."

Christina set down again "Meredith, what happened last night has anything to do with her?"

"I don't want to talk about and you should go now not to miss the surgery."

"ok"

"Cya later Mer!" George told her.

After they left the table.

"What happened last night?" George asked Christina.

"I don't know for sure, but it seems that you weren't the only victim of Ellis's Grey yesterday!"

"Christina… do you know anything about this guy that Meredith is sleeping with?"

"No, I don't know!"

"Izzie says that she might date a married man, what do you think!"

Christina kept walking annoyed by George's gab, when all of the sudden she stopped and looked at him "What? Do I look like nurse or like a cheap reporter that hunts cheap gossips?"

"No"

Christina started to walk again "I thought so!"

------------------------------------------------------------

"ok, you have that look on your face again"

Meredith's gaze broke when Derek came to her. "what look?" she asked him.

Derek put his tray down and set down across the table "That empty look, like you are meditating upon something"

"Dr. Shepherd, I thought I told you that the personal problems must stay outside the hospital!"

"But this concerns me professionally; since you are my intern, I want to be sure that you are capable to take care of my patients and that you won't go into a daze like that while you are in the OR" and he started to eat from his salad with a serious look on his face.

Meredith looked at him also serious "I can be very professional you know, comparing with you"

Derek raised his look from food and smiled at her "I know, but I needed a reason to come and eat with you" he took a sip of water from his bottle "We have to find the cause of Mrs. Levinson's aneurism; this is the second in the last two months"

"Her daughter told me that she started to have signs of cognitive deficit; she often forgets what she is supposed to do in the next second or what she has just did"

"This means many minor aneurisms in time" Derek explained her. "What else did she tell you?"

"She didn't tell me much, but I noticed that in all this days that she stayed in hospital, her BP is very high and it seems that she had a treatment for it a few years later, but she dropped it when she felt better"

"So she is hypertensive and she takes no medicine for it… this means a slow and painful death! You did your homework very well Dr. Grey!"

"Like I always do"

"Of course"

Both of them were paged.

Derek stood up "this is our hypertensive"

------------------------------------------------------------

Izzie made it through the entire surgery very well. George was paged by the end of it and Christina left when it finished, so just Alex waited for her to come out of the OR.

Izzie came out of the scrub room and saw him waiting for her; she continued to walk "What do you want Alex?"

Alex followed her "I came to congratulate you for your success!"

"thank you, you can go now!"

He grabbed arm and stopped her "Izzie, we need to talk"

Izzie stopped and looked at him "Will you tell me about Meredith's boyfriend?"

"No; that is not our business anymore and I won't continue with it!"

"Then, there is nothing we have to talk about"

Alex got angry hearing that "What are you saying, that you won't make up with me unless I tell who is Meredith dating with?"

"That is exactly what I am saying"

"I didn't know that you are so interested in gossips"

"I am not, but I want you to trust in me that you can tell me anything"

"Meredith also trusts me that I won't tell anyone; everyone has some private secrets that needs to stay private, and so does she, so I am sorry that this is a reason for you to break up with me" and he turned around and walked in opposite direction.

------------------------------------------------------------

At the end of the shift, everybody, except George who was on call that night, were getting ready to go home.

Izzie walked to Alex's locker to talk to him "Alex, can we talk?"

"At Joe's?"

"Yes."

"I am done in a minute!"

Meredith was a little late, and when she came in, Alex and Izzie were leaving.

She started changing her clothes and noticed the happy smile from George's face. Christina was also already dressed and ready to leave "I am not sleeping home tonight" she said as she passed by Meredith.

Meredith looked back at her smiling "Have fun!" Then she turned her attention to George "You look like the opposite George from yesterday; it was that good?"

George very enthusiastic came to her smiling "it went very well; I scrubbed in the surgery that I was banned yesterday from and I performed the surgery assisted, I repeat ASSISTED by your mother"

"That is great Georgie! I told you that you should have worried about what happened yesterday!"

"You were right! Now I love again being a doctor!"

Meredith laughed "I am sure you are! Are you working tonight?"

George nodded happy "I feel great; I feel like I can work another 24 hours"

Meredith "you say that because of the adrenalin! I am leaving too now! Bye George and Congratulations !"

"Thanks Mer! I'll see you tomorrow, bye!"

------------------------------------------------------------

When she got out of the locker room, Meredith ran into Derek who was waiting for her.

"Dr. Shepherd!"  
"Ready to go Dr. Grey?"

"I am … ready to go home"

"no, no; not home. Come with me!" and he discreetly leaded her outside of the hospital.

They arrived in the parking lot and Derek opened the door from his car for her.

"I am not ridding the same car with you!"  
"I don't think you have any choice! I don't know if you noticed, but you don't have a car to go home with so…come with me!"

Derek helped her to get in, then he went on the driver's seat and drove away.

"Where are we going?" Meredith asked him.

"You'll see!"


	10. Ferryboat

Soon Meredith realized that they were on their way to ferryboats. And indeed, Derek stopped the car when they arrived there. He opened her door and gave her the hand to get out.

"It will get dark soon Derek!"

"Don't worry, we won't stay too long!"

Derek took her hand and leaded her to a ferryboat and he could see that Meredith was looking confused at him, so he smiled at her and told her to get ready for a ride.

Soon the ferryboat started to move and both of them were watching the bank getting far.

"I told you once that this is a great place for confessions!" Derek was the first who spoke.

"And is there something that you want to confess me?" Meredith asked him curious.

"Not right now, but I know that you have something!"

"No, I don't!"

"Yes you do and I am expecting you to tell me what is it about!"

Meredith stared blankly over the water again. She never confessed to anyone else but Alex about her problems. Alex was the only one who knew her issues. Nobody else cared or showed any interest for her problems, but now Derek wanted to know them, but what if he will find them too stupid or too overwhelming? Tears started to flood her eyes. Derek saw them and gently wiped her face.

"You know Meredith, I want to believe that I am more then just a sex partner! I want you to know that I am also your friend and whenever you feel like you have something bothering you can tell me so that I can help."

Meredith looked at him and she saw his gentle eyes and his charming smile.

Derek brushed her face with his hands, then he pulled her for a kiss and a hug.

She wrapped her arms around him and tears started to wet her face now and also his jacket.

Still crying and with her head resting on him, she started to confess him between sobs.

"My father left when I was 3… he was alcoholic and often he was getting angry on us…then my mom turned him to the authorities and later she got the divorce and the full custody for me … I really don't remember anything from that period, but my first memories are with some relatives and neighbors looking up for me, when my mom was at work and this means all the time… my best's friend mom took me and her in our first day of school… she missed everything about me and with all this she pretends that she knows me and she tells me what are her expectations from me …she wants me to play by her rules now, but I had my own rules …now that somebody else raised me or it would be better said I raised myself she expects me to be like her …"

With each sentence that she was revealing, harder the tears were coming and the voice was shakier. In the meantime, the rain started to drop from sky; first easily, then harder. But they were still hugging and not looking like they were feeling it.

"And you know, the worst part is …" she looked up at him "…that she thinks she has the right to slap me, but she doesn't"

Then Derek realized that this must happened last night when Meredith went to see her mother. It was hard for him to listen all these as it was for her to tell him. His father died when he was little, but he was still having his mother and his sisters and they were a family… a family that apparently Meredith never had.

He comforted her and gave her time to calm down.

When she got calmer and she stopped from crying, she looked up at him. She could see that everything he heard affected him, but his smile was still there. "I am sorry! I have many family issues, so I am not perfect!"

Derek kissed her lips " I don't want you to be perfect! I am not perfect either, nobody is!"

Meredith smiled and hugged him tight "Right in this moment I think you are perfect!"

Derek laughed "No I am not! Is just your moment impression because you feel worse by living this then me who I was just a listener"

"But you were a perfect listener!"

The ferryboat was approaching the harbor and both of them were completely wet because of the rain's that was continuing to fall over them.

Getting back to car, Derek reached for a blanket and wrapped it around Meredith.

"I say we should stop by my apartment first since I live nearly and we need to dry ourselves before the cold hits us."

"Ok!" Meredith approved with a nod.

Arriving home, Derek unlocked the door, opened it, and found the house in complete dark and silence. He turned on the lights and invited Meredith in.

"It looks like Mark is having fun somewhere out there tonight" he said while he was throwing the keys on the coffee table and stepping in "Wait me here" he asked her and went to his bedroom. After just a few seconds, he came back with a clean towel and his bath robe "Here, take this and go get a hot shower! I don't want to hear in the next days that you got cold and you are missing from work" he gave her his dreamy smile that made Meredith to smile back and took the items "Thank You!"

"I'll go get Doc while you are in shower!"

When she came out of the bathroom, Meredith found Derek in kitchen preparing something for them to eat. She gave a look around the house "Where is Doc?" she asked while she took a seat down on table.

Derek came behind her, kissed the top of her head and laughed "It seems that Mark is trying his luck with Doc too"

Meredith also laughed and shook her head "You two are so mean with that dog!"

"Hey, I was just kidding!"

"Yeah, sure were!"

After dinner, they got comfortable on couch in front of the TV. Meredith was resting her head on his chest while he was running his hand through her wet hair. Both of them were enjoying that moment; Meredith relaxing in his embraces and Derek breathing in the smell of her hair. He had bought indeed a lavender shampoo for her to use it when she comes to stay at his place. He loved that smell terribly; first because it was remembering him of Meredith when she wasn't with him and secondly because it was relaxant too.

"I think we should go to bed" he whispered her when he saw that she was sleeping. Meredith opened her eyes and nodded, and then they got up and headed to bedroom.

"Wait!" Meredith stopped him "don't you think you should call Mark and see what happened to them?"

Derek turned around and thought for a moment "Do you think he is trying to get rid of him?" he asked her a little worried, making Meredith to laugh, "You know him better"

"You are right! I should call him" and took out his cell phone from the pants' pocket and dialed Mark's number.

"Yes Derek! What do you want?" Mark answered annoyed seeing Derek's id.

"Where in the heck are you? And what did you do with my dog?" then he heard Mark laughing

"Don't worry, Doc is fine! We are taking good care of him!"

"We?!"

"Exactly Derek, so don't worry about it; I'll sit with Doc today and you can ask Meredith to sit with you instead of Doc."

Derek laughed too and shook his head "You are a horrible person Mark for using my dog in your steamy games!"

"Hey, looks who's talking! Don't worry about us! You'd better go and take Meredith to keep you company tonight"

"You should not worry about me either"

"Oh… so then why are you wasting the time arguing with me on phone? God Derek, you don't know how to put up a date!"

"Shut up Mark and bring my dog back safe!"

"Ok, ok! Have fun!"

While Derek was talking with Mark, Meredith went in his room and searched for a shirt to put on her. When Derek came in she was just getting in bed.

"I hope you don't mind" she asked him, seeing the way he was looking at her shirt.

"Not at all! It looks great on you," he said smiling and coming next to her.

"So, what happened to Doc?"

"Doc is fine! Mark said he will sit with it tonight, so that you can sit with me"

Meredith laughed. "Really?" Derek nodded and gave her a quick kiss on lips "Well you are paying me for dog sitting, not Derek sitting"

"What are you saying? That I am not paying you enough for …a Derek sitting?"

Meredith nodded rakishly, Derek dragged her under him, and started to tickle her and to kiss her around the neck, making her to laugh hard "Do you mean that I am harder to handle then a dog?"

Meredith still laughing was slapping Derek to stop "Exactly!"

Derek stopped and looked at her serious "And why is that?"

"Well … A, the dogs don't ask for sex, and if they do you give them another dog…" Derek cut her laughing "Oh Meredith"

"Let me finish… B, they don't ask to bath with you and C ….well there is no C, but I think it is enough … they don't ask to have sex and bath with their …nanny"

Derek continued to laugh and after what Meredith finished, he crashed his lips on her and gave her a long kiss. "I have to go a shower…alone" and he gets up, not before kissing her again "I thing we'll have to start negotiate again about this …Derek sitting" smiling from the doorframe.

Meredith giggled, "We can try it, but I doubt that you can afford to take me as your nanny"

"I'm sure we'll get to an agreement" and he walked out of the bedroom.

When he came back, Meredith was already sleeping, so he got in bed too and spooned her and soon he fell asleep too.

The next morning the alarm went on and Derek woke up to turn it off; then he turned around to face Meredith who also woke up by the noise of the alarm.

Derek brushed the hair away from her face "Good morning"

Meredith smiled and gave him a soft kiss "Good morning!"

Derek placed himself on top of her and started kissing all over her face "Did you sleep well?"

Meredith nodded and thanked him.

"What are you thanking me for?"

"For making my day yesterday"

Derek smiled and continued to kiss her "Anytime" then he moved his kisses down her body making her giggle.

"We're horny this morning, aren't we Derek?"

"Very horny" he answered under the cover and started to come up again and unbutton her shirt leaving a kiss on each spot he was revealing from under it.

"Leave my shirt alone Derek"

"No, it is mine and I want it back; and I want it now" and he continued his work.

When he reached at the shirt's middle Meredith pushed him away, making him to protest. She got on top of him and she just stood there without doing anything, just looking at him.

"Aren't you going to do anything?" Derek asked her annoyed and Meredith shook her head "Come on Mere! You interrupted me from out I was doing and you are just staring at me?" Meredith smiled and nodded satisfied for being able to tease him "You know you are little and if I want I can use just a little force to get you under me again"

"But you won't" and she gave him a kiss "This is all you get for the dinner from last night"

"That's it? How about making you laughing last night?"

Meredith shook her head smiling "That you did it as a friend"

Derek wanted to say something but a knock on door interrupted him

"Derek get up" Mark's voice demanded from behind the door.

Derek made sign to Meredith to stay quiet.

"I know you two are awake so get up" Mark demanded again.

"What do you want Mark?" Derek asked and in the next second, Mark came in.

"MARK!!!" Derek protested still holding Meredith over him.

"What? You are both dressed so you are not having sex!"

"Yes, but maybe we were about to have!" Derek commented.

Mark rolled his eyes "If you say so… anyway you have to take Doc out for a walk"

In the meantime, Doc came in too and jumped in bed next to them.

"I walked him last night, but I am not going to do it everytime; besides, didn't you have enough sex last night? Do you need now too? You don't have time anyway, if you don't want Meredith to have problems with Bailey. And…."

"Are you here to chat Mark?" Derek got annoyed by Mark's daring.

Mark smiled "No, I actually don't have time; I have something more important in kitchen! So, bye!" and he left the room closing the door after him.

During Mark's gabs Meredith got off from Derek and from bed and started to look around the room for her clothes.

"And what do you think you're doing?" asked Derek after Mark's leaving.

Meredith continued to look for her clothes "Mark is right, Bailey will kill me if I am late, so we don't have time for sex now; besides you have to walk Doc" pointing to Doc who was hovering in Derek's head.

Derek groaned and got out of the bed. He came behind her and wrapped his arms around her "If we don't have sex, then you are coming with me to walk Doc!" and he started kissing her ear lob.

"I don't have time for that either"

"A walk is shorter then a sex round" and he moved to the other ear "Plus, I have your clothes and I am not telling you where"

Meredith pushed him away and groaned, "Fine, let's walk Doc"

"Now what is with this attitude? I thought you love Doc!" and he faked a pouted face.

Meredith smiled at him and playfully she slapped his arm "I love him more then you do anyway" and Derek started to smile at her again "Can you give me the clothes back now?"

"They are in bathroom in dryer"

"Then go and bring them to me!"

He pulled her in his arms "And what do I get for that?"

"I'll walk Doc with you"

"I want more"

"I'm not having sex with you now"

Derek sighed "I know, and even if you would want it we don't have time now, but … you can give me a kiss" and Meredith stack her lips right away on his, giving him a quick kiss.

"Now go" she commanded

"That wasn't a kiss… was a fake kiss"

Meredith groaned and kissef him again; from the moment that he felt her lips on his, Derek cupped her face and grabbed it for a deep kiss.

Meredith tried to catch up her breath again "Are you satisfied now?"

"No"

"DEREK!!!"

"I'm going" and he walked out of the bedroom.

Soon he returned with her the clothes.

"It seems that Mark and Doc made a friend last night" he said it sitting down on the bed's edge and looking at Meredith who was dressing.

"Do you mean a girlfriend, right?"

Derek laughed and went over to her. In that moment Meredith was putting her pants on "Let me help you with that" he said smiling, and he tied her pants' buttons pulling her waist closer to him.

Meredith smiled at him and gave him another quick kiss, then she pushed him away "I'm ready, lets go"

Derek sighed and followed her out.

She found in kitchen, Mark and a young, blonde and tall lady. They saw them coming out of their bedroom together with Doc, so Mark's girlfriend comes to them and cuddles Doc; then she stands up to Meredith smiling "Hi! I'm Angela!"

Meredith smiles back and shakes her hand "Meredith"

Derek puts the leash to Doc "Let's go Meredith!" and Meredith follows him.

"Don't you want eat something first?" Angela stopped them.

Derek opened the door for Meredith and looked back at Angela "We have to walk Doc first; later" and both said goodbye to Mark and Angela and left.

The walk was longer then they planned it to be, since Derek took care to harass Meredith all the time they stood in park instead of looking up for Doc, so Doc decided not to wait for them and walk by himself. When they saw that the dog was not with them anymore they started to look for it all around the park.

They found it after a long running, playing with another dog.

Because of Doc's lost, they didn't have time to eat, so they just dropped Doc home.

"I guess you'll have to go with me today" Derek told her while they got into the parking lot.

Meredith smiled at him "I guess it's ok, since we are already late, the chances for someone to see us coming together are slight"

Derek smiled and opened the car's door for her and then he got on the driver's seat and left.

During the ride, Meredith was biting nervous her lower lip, so Derek took her hand and kissed it "Is everything alright?"

Meredith looked at him and nodded "Um… yeah" after a short pause "What do you think it will happen when they'll find out?"

"Who and find out about what?"

"About us!"

"I don't know, but they will find out one day; we won't be able to hide it forever!"

"So, do you think this will last for a long time?"

Derek smiled at her and brushed her face "I hope so!" and he kissed her hand again and set it on his lap.

Meredith smiled back at him and started to rub his thigh.

"Now you are mean … very mean, Meredith!"

Meredith smiled and kissed his ear lobe, making Derek to shiver "You are so going to pay me for this Meredith!" Meredith giggled "You are not scaring me … dr. Shepherd"

Derek took her hand in his hand and held it away from his lap "You should be scared" He smiled at her.

Soon they arrived in the hospital's parking lot and Derek parked the car. They looked around, but they didn't see anyone known, so both of them got out of the car and headed to entrance, without staying too close one to each other, but also not too far.

What they didn't know was that they weren't the only ones who were late for work.

**------------------------------------**

**From now on the updates for this fic will come more often!**


	11. Busted

Alex parked the car right in the moment that Meredith and Derek were getting out of theirs. Izzie was in front with Alex and Christina in the back sits, when she all of the sudden jumped over Alex to looked over his window "OMG! Is that Meredith? And … Dr. Shepherd?" and she saw Meredith getting out of Derek's car.

Both Alex and Christina looked over the spot that Izzie had her sight fixed, but since this wasn't a surprise for them, they didn't say anything; just Alex shook his head.

When Derek and Meredith entered inside the hospital, Izzie's gaze broke and she turned to Alex "He is the man she is having an affair with?" but Alex stays quiet "But he is her boss!"

Christina opened her door "He is all of our boss, now let's go; we're late!" and she got out, followed by the others.

"Isn't she afraid that she might have problems if everyone else finds out?" Izzie continued while they were walking inside "Of course she's not afraid; she is the chief's step daughter, so she can sleep with whoever she wants to"

Alex stopped and stopped Izzie too "Can you please stay quiet about this and not starting to spread it all around the hospital? Besides, it is Meredith's problem not ours and since she is not receiving any favors at work from him, leave them alone". He started to walk again and then he stopped "Regarding the chief and her mother, if this we'll make you feel better then find out that she will be in a big shit if they find out!" and he started walking again, this time more nervous.

Izzie rolled her eyes angry and followed the others "Fine! I don't want to fight with you again because of Meredith's"

"Thank you!" Alex answered her without turning his look at her.

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Meredith found George in locker room sleeping on a bench. She went to him and shook gently his shoulder "George! Georgie!"

George opened his eyes and set up rubbing them "Hey Mer!"

"What are you still doing here? Go home and sleep in bed!"

George checked his watched "I must have fallen asleep; but you're late!"

In the mean time Meredith started to change her clothes "I know!" and looking around, she noticed that none of her friends were there "Where are the others? Did they start the pre rounds already?"

"I don't think they got here either"

"That's weird"

In that moment all three of them stepped in and immediately followed by Bailey who was obviously not very cheerful "That is really nice of you to show up before lunch"; the interns wanted to say something but she didn't let them say a word "Save it! I don't even want to hear! You missed the pre rounds and this means that you missed the surgeries too, so …Stevens, you're doing the charts, Karev run the labs, Grey and Yang pit" and she saw George too "O'Mailey, go home! Now, thank you for your precious time and let's try to pretend that we actually work today!"

"Great!" protested Christina after what Bailey left.

Meredith has just finished dressing "What happened with you?"

"We had a problem with the car on our way here," Alex answered and he closed his locker and came over to her.

Izzie was ready to say something from the first time she got in, but being interrupted by Bailey she couldn't "But what about to you Meredith? Why were you late?"

Meredith looked confused at Alex and Christina who were also looking at her, after they heard Izzie's question and started to rumble "Umm…I … I had an …incident, so… that is why!"

"What incident?" Izzie insisted and Alex came to her right away "Izzie, please don't start again!"

Meredith slammed her locker "What is going on here?"

Alex looked at her "They found out about McDreamy", and suddenly Meredith turned white and the others reacted in different ways.

Christina knew who they were talking about, but by the hear of his nickname she let out a noise of nausea "Oh… I think I am going to McVomit"

Izzie instead laughed amused "McDreamy?"

And George was the most clueless from all of them "McDreamy?! Who's McDreamy?" but he didn't receive any answer "Meredith?"

"Tell him Meredith! He shares the same house with you so he deserves to know" Izzie said.

Meredith looked around the locker room to make sure that nobody else is there and then she took a deep breath "Shepherd"

George's jaw dropped and he got in shock "What?"

Christina came over to Meredith and grabbed her arm "Now that she fed your curiosity leave her alone and go to work"

"Wait a minute!" Izzie made them stop "Did you know about him? Coz you didn't look surprised?"

Christina pushed Meredith out of the locker room "I am genius in case that you still had any doubts about me"

George was still in shock, that he couldn't even finish dressing himself "Meredith and … Shepherd?"

Alex grabbed Izzie's arm and leaded her out too "Yes, now lets get over this" and they walked out.


	12. Bad day or not that bad

Meredith and Christina, on their way to pit.

"You know that your secret is safe with me, but you should start worrying about Izzie"

"I was afraid that this day will come"

"If Izzie reacted like this, imagine your mom and the chief"

Meredith looked worried at her and she bitted her lips nervously "I know"

"Did you two talk about this?"

"Not really" and she changed the subject "Hey, but you are in the same situation as me; aren't you afraid that someone will find out about you and your boss?"

"No, I am not afraid, because I know how to hide it"

"I am smart too you know, so I will find out one day who is he!" and she smirked at Christina.

"That's what you think! Anyway, what was the reason you were late huh?"

Meredith grinned at her, thing that made Christina to roll her eyes "I don't even know why I asked!"

And Meredith giggled "It wasn't what you think it was"

"So you are going to spend the entire day in pit doing sutures and bandages and the reason for this is not the sex?" she smiled at Meredith "You are definitely not that smart! Oh and … McDreamy?! Seriously Mer, what are you 5?"

"Shut up about it" and she smiled back at her "I'll prove you that I am smart"

"Whatever! Let's find something interesting to do here" while they were stepping in pit.

They looked around, but there were the same banal cases; minor injuries, some flu cases and broken bones. Christina's eyes spotted a male that seemed to have more then just a banal injury "I found something", she said and ran right away to it.

Meredith stood there and continued to look around for something to pick for herself.

"Dr. Grey" a nurse called her and Meredith went to her. She was with a young man with a burned arm accompanied by an older man.

"What happened?"

The old man spoke first "some chlorine hydride was spelled accidentally over his arm"

Meredith asked the nurse for a drug to calm down the patient and to page Dr. Sloan. When the patient was sedated, she started to clean the burn that was extended on the entire arm.

Mark answered fast to the nurse's page and he came down to pit quickly. He checked what Meredith had done so far, then he bandaged it.

"Now Dr. Grey, I need an intern for a surgery, are you interested?" Mark asked her smiling.

Meredith didn't really want to answer his proposal knowing that he asked her that just because she was sleeping with Derek, but she didn't want to spend the entire day in pit "Yes, I am"

"Great, then follow me"

Christina glared her seeing that leaving the pit and Meredith answered her with a smirk.

When they got on the surgical floor, they ran into Bailey. Seeing Meredith there Bailey crossed her arms and gave her a glare "May I know what are you doing here Dr. Grey?"

Meredith knew that she was in trouble now so she couldn't say anything.

"I asked Dr. Grey to assist me on a surgery" Mark answered her, also crossing his arms and looked amused at Bailey's attitude.

"Did she participate at this case so far?" she asked with a harsh tone.

"No, but I think I can choose what intern to have with me in my OR"

"And I also choose what to do with my interns; besides you never needed an intern in your OR and I am sure that you will do just fine this time too without one"

Mark wanted to say something, but Bailey didn't let him even start "If you are doing this just because her last name is Grey, then be sure that she won't step on this floor for a while", and she turned to Meredith "Grey, all of you were banned from surgeries today for the same reason, so if you want to be fair with them then go back down to pit" and saying that she left.

"What did you do that you are banned from the OR today?"

Meredith still looking at the spot that Bailey stood "I was late"

Mark laughed "Really? I guess I should have given you more time for your activities this morning and walk Doc myself again".

Meredith shook her head and without giving him any look, she turned around to elevator and called for it. Stepping inside she found Derek alone in there; she pressed her floor and kept her back turned to him.

She felt him approaching her and saw his arm pressing the hold button.

"Dr. Shepherd" she protested turning around to face him; but he was standing so close to her that her body hit his and her face hit his lips. She pushed him away and pressed the hold button and let the elevator go.

When the elevator got on Derek's floor, he pushed her out of the elevator.

"Dr. Shepherd this is not my floor"

Derek put his hand on her back and continued to push her "I know Dr.Grey, but I want to show you something"

He lede her along the hallway and looking around he opened an on call room and pushed her inside of it. He turned on the light and locked the door; then he took her in his arms and started to kiss her. After a while, Meredith pulled back again.

"Ok, now I know that you are upset on me and I don't know why!" he said rising her chin to look into her eyes and ran his hand through her hair smiling. That made Meredith to crash her lips into his and in the next second, they started to remove their scrub clothes. His hands were running all over her back, while hers were running through his hair. Derek lifted her up and wrapped her legs around him and placed her on bed. He laid her down and got on top of her starting to place kisses all over her body.

Soon both of them dropped breathless and resting in each other's arms. When her breath normalized, Meredith got up and started to dress herself. Derek came behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist with the hands on her pants' cord "Can I help you with these?" he asked while he was kissing her shoulders.

Meredith pulled away without saying anything and continued to dress. Now Derek was sure that something was wrong, so he didn't continue and started to dress himself too.

After she finished dressing, Meredith set down on bed with her face on ground. Derek dressed himself and set down next to her "Meredith"

Meredith raised her look at him and he could see that she was about to cry. He brushed her face and pulled her in his arms "What happened Mere?"

Still resting her head on his chest "This was the last time Derek! We have to end it"

Derek pulled himself back and raised Meredith's head starring into her teary eyes "Why?"

She took off his hands from her face "My friends already know about us and they probably hate me now, and soon the others will find out too and we can't risk our careers, you can't risk your reputation for sex"

"But Meredith, I thought I made it clear to you yesterday that what it is between us is not just sex; you are also my friend and a very important person for me; Meredith, you are my girlfriend" and he wiped the tears that had started to wet her face.

"I am?"

Derek smiled at her and pulled her back into his arms "Of course you are babe"

Meredith wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight.

"Meredith, we will clear up this thing with your friends; I think I showed you by now that at hospital we were totally professional" and he laughed a little "Ok, excepting the small teasing that I am doing to you when we are alone in elevator! And we'll talk to your parents too; this is an unwritten rule so there is nothing legal that they can do to us"

Meredith pushed him away and unlocked the door "I am sorry but I can't do it!"

"Meredith" but she had already left the room, letting Derek in shock _"How this could happen all of the sudden? We were doing so fine this morning"_ he sighed and laid back on bed thinking about what is it to do and questioning himself if for Meredith was just sex. He stood there with all those questions and thoughts running through his mind until he was paged and had to leave.

When Meredith got out of the on call room, she decided to get down to pit by stairs. Ellis saw her daughter when, Meredith was about to get on the stairways. Meredith saw her too, but she tried to avoid her. They haven't spoken to each other since Ellis slapped her and right now she wasn't feeling able to face her; but unfortunately for her Ellis wanted to talk to her.

"Meredith, are we going to try to have a mature relationship or you are going to avoid me forever?" and Ellis grabbed Meredith's arm, making her to face her. Then Ellis saw Meredith's tearing eyes.

Ellis rolled her eyes with disillusion seeing her crying "For God's sake Meredith, you are a surgeon or… at least you want to become a surgeon and a surgeon doesn't cry"

"Well I do cry!" and she stormed out door and started running on stairs.

She got down to pit and found Christina fighting with a nervous patient. Christina and another two nurses were trying to calm her down, so Meredith went there to help them too "What happened to her?"

"She is heroin addicted and she is having a seizure for not taking her dose" Christina said while she was trying to tie her hand down.

After what the patient calmed down, Christina asked one of the nurses to send her to toxicology.

"This is surely a bad day" Christina complained throwing away her gloves.

Meredith didn't reply and went to take a patient. Christina saw that something was not right with her, so she followed her. Meredith started to clean a superficial wound to a man; in the meantime, Christina came next to her and stood there just starring at her.

Meredith started to give her glances until one point when she stopped and looked at her annoyed "What do you want Christina?"

"What happened with Sloan? I saw him taking you away from here"

Meredith sighs and starts stitching the man's wound "Bailey caught me there and send me back"

"She really is pissed on us"; with that statement Christina was trying to involve Meredith into a talk, but she realized that Meredith's mood wasn't a great one.

After what Meredith finished the stitching, Christina grabbed her arm and pulled her away.

"What are you doing Christina?" Meredith protested

"Betty, please bandage this one for Dr. Grey!" she asked a nurse that was around there.

The nurse came and took Meredith's place "Sure doctor"

"Christina, as you said Bailey is already pissed on us, if she finds out that we are not working, we'll become experts in running labs and writing charts, not in surgeries.

"Let me be the one worried about this; you are coming with me" and she continued to drag her until they reached the basement.

Christina set down on a stretcher and motioned Meredith to get up too. Meredith rolled her eyes but she sat on it too, next to Christina. The silence fell over them for a few minutes; minutes that Meredith spent them starring ahead in blank and Christina giving her glances from time to time to see if she is going to start talking soon.

Since Christina wasn't that kind of person who would have placed a comforting arm around a person in suffer or who would say a comforting word when someone needed it, she was trying to show some support in her manner and now she let Meredith to talk first.

She did not like Meredith when she first met her; because of who she is, because of the treatment that Meredith could have received from the others doctors and because she believed that she might be arrogant. The real reason she agreed to move in the same house with Meredith Grey, was her last name; she always put her professional career on the first place and never stepped back from any situations that could have bring her an advantage, and seeing in Meredith a strong candidate for the best surgeries she decided to keep her closer.

But all these were at the beginning, before she got to know Meredith better, before she got to know Ellis Grey, the mother. She was still respecting Dr. Ellis Grey, but she also started to respect Meredith; for her way to face all the situations caused by her name, for still acting professional despite her name and her relationship with Derek.

Meredith didn't seem to start talking soon, so Christina decided to break the silence "Meredith"

Meredith broke the gaze and looked at Christina without any expression written on her face; she was just looking at her.

"You know I won't judge you and I won't tell anything about you and Shepherd" she tried to make this clear to Meredith, thinking that this might be the problem. Meredith turned away her look from Christina and stood quiet. "And you shouldn't worry about George or Izzie, coz I will make sure to beat the crap out of them if they say a word to anyone"

Meredith continued to look ahead, but now her eyes started to express emotions and let the tears come out of them, rolling over her cheeks "It wasn't just sex"

"I know and as I said I am not judging you; you and I are different in some ways and alike in others. For example, you like to live the feelings and I do not, I always repress them; you are a smart girl and so am I" and she saw her not paying too much attention at her words "And I could continue, but I really don't like talking by myself so…"

And Meredith looked at her. She really didn't seem to have listened Christina so far "He told me that I am his girlfriend"

"That is good, right?"

"And I broke up with him" she started to sob.

"Meredith, he is a grown man and if he said that, it means he doesn't care too much of what could happen when your parents will find out and you should not care either. You are an independent woman now Meredith, or at least that is what you made me believe about you! Give yourself a little happiness and screw the gossips! It's not easy, but you can have it all!" saying this she stood up and started walking "Are you coming?" she asked her without looking at her.

Meredith wiped her face and followed her.

"This talk stays between us! And I hope I didn't play the shrink role with you for nothing and that you have listened to what I said" Christina continued, still without looking at her.

Meredith followed her in silence back to pit.

---------------------------------------------------------

Shortly after Meredith left Derek in the on call room, he was paged and went to answer the call. After the consult he stepped out of the patient's room and looked around like he was trying to find someone.

"Hey, lover boy!" Mark saw him and came smiling to him. Derek gave him a glare and looked down in his chart "What is this supposed to mean?" he asked him with a harsh tone.

Mark saw him angry and when Derek started to walk, he followed him "What happened to you?"

Derek stopped and looked at him "Have you seen any of Bailey's interns around here today?"

Mark smiled "If you are looking for an intern in particular, then yes I saw her", but for his statement Derek answered him with a glare "Ok, now tell me what happened?"

"I asked you something Mark, have you seen any of them today?" Derek almost yelled at him.

"Ok, ok, take it easy! Yes, I saw Meredith…like an hour ago or so; I wanted to take her from the pit and assist me to a surgery, but Bailey sent her back. From what I understood none of them is allowed on the surgical floor today because they were late for work!" and Mark remained surprised when he saw Derek leaving without saying a word.

---------------------------------------------------------

Later Christina took Meredith for lunch. Walking in the patio, they spotted Alex and Izzie sitting on a table there. When Meredith saw Izzie, she stopped and put her tray down on a free table, far from the one that Izzie and Alex were sitting at. "Let's stay here!" she said.

Christina turned around to her and glared her "Do you really want me to kick your ass Meredith? Will you give Izzie the satisfaction of seeing you scared of her?"

Meredith sighed, picked up the tray and started to follow Christina. Arriving at their table, Meredith set down quiet next to Alex and Christina in front of Izzie.

"Hi Mer!" Alex saluted her.

"Hi Alex!" she replied avoiding to look at Izzie and opened her casserole with food.

Everyone, except Meredith, looked at each other, then Alex and Christina fixed Izzie with their looks, making her to sigh.

"You know Meredith … it doesn't bother me the relationship you have with …McDreamy (with an amused tone)…but it bothered me that you didn't trust in telling me. I mean we share the same house and it is your house and you can bring your boyfriend over there; you don't have to hide somewhere else. That is your home and your privacy too, so I will respect that! What happens in your house it your business as long as it stays just in there!"

Meredith continued to eat all this time, without even looking at Izzie. Her words made Meredith to choke down the food she was eating.

Alex saw that she wasn't feeling well, so he placed gently his hand over hers, trying to comfort her.

"Hey, McDreamy is here!" Izzie said looking over to Derek who was buying himself a coffee from the coffee cart.

Meredith and Derek gave each other a few glances, until Derek left the patio.

"You don't have bad tastes in men Meredith!" Izzie continued her gab about Derek.

Christina glared her "They broke up, so shut up now Izzie!"

"What?" both Alex and Izzie jumped by the hear of Christina's words.

"Why Meredith?" Alex asked trying to make her look at him.

Meredith continued to eat with her looked fixed over the tray and her eyes started to tear again.

"Why did you do that Meredith?" Izzie asked her "It was because of me?"

But stood quiet again, and just Christina answered her with her glare that was telling her that 'yes, because of you'.

"Meredith!" Izzie said with guilt in her voice "You should fix this right away! I'll help if you want"

Meredith threw the fork away on table and she got up and left.

Alex wanted to go after her, but Christina told him to give her some space.

---------------------------------------------------------

Meredith needed a place to be alone, so she chose to go to basement. There she set down on the same stretcher that she and Christina stood earlier. She brought her knees to her chest and buried the head in them. Once she has settled on this position, the tears started to flow her eyes again. _"What if I rushed with that decision?" "Did I do right what I did?" "Why can't I be happy? Don't I deserve to be happy too?" "Why do I always fall for the wrong man?_" That kind of questions started to run in Meredith's head, but she couldn't find any answer for them.

She felt someone hovering over her head and then a hand running through her hair. Soon those were followed by the stretcher's move under someone's weight and by the physical touch with that person's body.

Meredith finally wiped the tears and looked up ahead. She already knew who was sitting next to her, so she avoided looking at that person.

"You know Meredith… I don't give a damn on what the others think about what I do, as long as I know that I am doing the right thing". Derek spoke after a few moments of silence since he got there and then he paused again "As long as I am happy the gossips don't hurt me and I don't want to hurt you either, so we'll do it right, but…" he sighed and looked at Meredith.

She looked up at him too and he wiped her cheek with the thumb "but I want you to give us a chance"

"Sometimes it is not easy to be happy; sometimes it also hurts when you are happy" she finally spoke "And me… I am most of the times so …dark…and twisty; you don't need all these"

Derek smiled at her and kissed her forehead "But I wouldn't care as long as I suffer with you!"

"Would you want to share my pain with me?"

"If this is how I can know you by my side, then yes! But you have to stop running away from me; no matter what problems we have, never run away without giving us another chance!"

Meredith looked into his eyes biting her lower lip; she saw again his dreamy smile printed on his face; a smile that always was making her thoughts running crazily in her head; a smile that always was giving her hope and confidence; a kiss that made her jump into his face, crashing her lips into his. Derek took her in his arms and held her tight.

"I'll stop tonight by your house and we'll talk to your friends!"

"Tonight? It can't be"

"Why?"

"Because I am on call"

"You didn't tell me that you are going to work tonight"

"I was planning to, but since you kept me occupied all morning … I forgot!"

Derek chuckled and gave her another kiss "Ok, but we can go and talk to your parents"

Meredith's forehead got frown and she looked at him scared.

Derek took her head in his hands and looked into her eyes "It'll be fine Meredith! This is the right thing to do!"

"Ok" and she sighed.

Derek took her hand and led her to elevator. When they stepped inside, he let her hand go and pressed the floor where the Chief's office was. Since they weren't alone in there, the ride was quiet and they were just giving each other glances. Derek saw that Meredith got more and more scared as they were approaching the chief's floor, so he comforted her with a smile.

When they got out of the elevator Derek put his hand on her back and led her to the chief's office.

With a few steps before the office, Meredith started to walk with hesitation. They saw both, Ellis and Richard in there.

"It'll be fine you'll see!" he tried to comfort her again, but Meredith stopped her track and looked at him.

"I can't do this Derek! Not today!"

"Meredith!"

"No Derek! What if it is too early for this? I mean we know each other just for a few weeks; what if … no ! I can't do it! I am sorry!"

Derek sighed and looked at her "Meredith, it is not too early! At least not for me!"

"I am sorry Derek, but I can't! Please let's just not tell them right away! Please!"

She could see that Derek was disappointed by her hesitation "Derek, my relationship with my mother is not one of the greatest and if she finds out about us…" the thought that was running through her mind made her shook her head with horror "…I don't think I could take it now!"

"But you know it will be worst if she finds out in a different way!"

"We'll take care not to find out!"

"But your friends already know about us, do you think you can trust them?"

"Yes, I do trust them! Please Derek, just not today!"

Derek shook his head with disapproval, then he gave her a smile "Fine! Not today!"

Meredith smiled back "Thank you!"

When they were about to turn back and leave the office door opened and Ellis stepped out of it.

"Dr. Shepherd, Dr. Grey! Do you need anything?"

Derek and Meredith looked at each other, none of them not knowing what to answer.

"Umm…no! Dr. Grey and I had a little dissension, but we resolved it!"

Ellis looked at her daughter and shook her head "Again? This attitude doesn't put you in a good light Dr. Grey! Dr. Shepherd you are free to take any decision you want regarding her behavior and do not let her last name to stop you!" and saying that she left.

Meredith looked at Derek furious "Thank you for that!"

"I'm sorry! That was the only thing that came in my mind!"

"Your first thought was to deepen the problems that I have with her?"

"No! Actually, my first thought was to tell her that I am in love in with her daughter; that was my second thought!"

"Fine, let's just go now before Richard gets out too!"

Derek returned to his work and Meredith to pit.

Christina was already there, when Meredith arrived, and she saw instantly a totally different mood on Meredith's face.

Meredith went to received a patient; a 10 years old boy brought by her mother.

"Hello! I am Dr. Grey!" she said smiling to that woman and to her boy.

"Hello Dr. Grey! I'm Jessica and this is my son James!"

"Nice to meet you James!" she said to the boy who was looking pretty sick. "What is the problem?" She asked the mother.

"Well… since yesterday he started to feel very bad, very wick and nauseous; he throws up a lot, and often with blood; and he hardly can eat anything."

"Did he have fever too?"

"No, without fever!"

"Do you feel any pain James?" and James shook his head "Ok, then I'll have to take a look with the endoscope in his digestive tract!"

"Does it hurts?" the boy asked with a crying voice.

Meredith bent down to him and smiled "I'll do my best not to, ok?" and the boy nodded. Then Meredith looked at his mother "It is an unpleasant procedure, so we can do it under anesthesia if you agree"

"Is the anesthesia risky?"

"No, it is not risky!"

"Ok then!"

"Ok, first we'll take some blood samples for some tests and when we receive the results we'll start with the procedure! It shouldn't take too long! James, I am going to draw some blood from your vena ok?" and the boy nodded scared.

All that time Christina was looking at her; when Meredith left with the blood samples, she went after her.

Meredith stopped her track and Christina, who was right behind her, almost hit her.

"I think I know where the laboratory is, Christina, so you don't have to come with me!"

"Wait, not long ago you were crying your eyes out because of McDreamy and now you come back looking like …"

"Bright and shiny?" Meredith smiled at her

Christina raised an eye brow "Yeah… ! Whatever! And you are expecting me to let you go without telling me what happened in the mean time?"

Meredith chuckled "I didn't have sex!"

"ok, this is not exactly what I wanted to know, but I suppose that things are right again, aren't they?"

Meredith nodded

"This means that you listened to my advice!"

"I did"

Christina patted her shoulder "Good girl, now go and find the laboratory!"

The rest of the day was very busy for Meredith, so she and Derek didn't see each other again. At the end of the day, when in the work started to slow down, Meredith went down to basement decided to have some rest. She laid down on a stretcher and closed her eyes; she had almost fell asleep when she felt someone kissing her lips; she opened the eyes and saw Derek bent over her head and smiling at her.

"Hi!" he whispered and Meredith sat up "Hey! What are you still doing here at this hour?"

Derek sat down next to her "I had a late surgery and I couldn't go home without checking if we are still together or not!" and he laughed at her.

Meredith hit him playfully "The last time I checked, we were"

Derek gave her a quick kiss on cheek "Great! But my real reason was to tell you good night!"

"Good night Dr. Shepherd!"

Derek laughed and cupped her face and kissed her "Good night Dr. Grey!"; saying that he jumped off the stretcher and walked away, not without giving her another smile and a wink.

Meredith smiled and watched him leaving.


	13. My knight and shiny whatever

The night was very busy, so Meredith didn't get more than 2 hours of sleep. In the morning she returned to basement on the same stretcher and she decided to lay back until Bailey will come and discharge her.

Later a scent of coffee started to tickle her nose; then some lips on her forehead. She opened the eyes and there he was again, her McDreamy smiling dreamy at her. She smiled back and sat up.

"I thought you will need one!" showing her a coffee "The chief told us to expect a hard day today and he might ask you to stay longer"

Meredith sighed and pulled her hair back into a ponytail "Is it a strong one?" looking at the coffees from his hands.

"Very strong"

"Good!" and she took one from his hand.

"How are you feeling today?"

"After a crazy night in pit? Tired!" she groaned making Derek to laugh.

Derek pulled her head to him and kissed it "I wasn't referring on that type of feeling!"

Meredith grinned at him and started to walk "Much better than yesterday"

And Derek followed her smiling.

-----------------------------

She found her friends in locker room, changing into their scrubs.

"Morning Meredith" Alex, George and Izzie greeted her

"You look like crap Mer!"

"Thanks Christina! I do feel like crap after a crazy night! Morning guys!" Meredith set down on a bench and continued to yawn.

"Something good came in last night in pit?" Christina asked her sitting down too and fixing her coat.

"yeah; a pericarditis, a gastric by pass , a brain tumor, an operable gastric ulcer and more"

"I like the pericarditis!" she said standing up and heading back to her locker.

Christina's seat was occupied by Alex "How are you doing today Mer?"

Meredith leaned her head on his shoulder and nodded "I am doing fine; just very tired!"

George also set down next to her "It doesn't bother me Mer, the relationship you have with Shepherd"

And Meredith moved her head on George's shoulder "Thank you!" and George patted her arm.

Everybody jumped on their feet when they saw Bailey coming in.

"Hard day today people so wake up!" she shouted, "Grey, the chief asked all the available doctors to stay longer today, so you can't go home now!"

That made Meredith to groan and to take a big sip from the coffee that Derek had brought her.

"Because you have received Mr. Straker last night, Grey you'll take care of him today too, so you'll be under Shepherd's service"

Meredith seemed disappointed and her friends looked at her curiously.

"Yang, Karev and O'Mailey down to pit and receive the EMT, and Stevens you are in cardiology with Dr. Burke" and saying that Bailey left the locker room.

Meredith sighed and set back down on bench closing the eyes. Alex set down next to her too.

"What is it now? Aren't you happy that you were assigned to Shepherd?" he asked her.

"It's not that! I am very tired and I hate this case!"

"What kind of case it is coz maybe we'll switch?" Christina asked her.

"It's a possible tumor on the occipital brain"

"But this is interesting! Why do you want to give up on it?" she asked her again.

Meredith stood up "It doesn't matter! I'll see you later!" and she got out.

The others followed her soon and did the pre rounds.

When they were about to enter and see Meredith's patient, Meredith stood behind the others and stopped right in front of the door. Alex saw her and came back to her "Are you all right Meredith?"

Meredith nodded.

"Then come on in!"

She took a deep breath and entered. Inside Derek was already talking with the patient, trying to explain him the procedure. Mr. Straker was listening him bored and annoyed.

"Ok doctor, whatever you're name is! I heard that you are the specialist so do your job! I am already sick enough and what you are saying me passes near my ears!"

Derek sighed, obviously annoyed to by the patient's attitude.

But when Meredith came in Mr. Straker's mood changed completely.

"Finally, here is my ray on sun! Dr. Grey I am happy that you came back!" Mr. Straker greeted her smiling.

Meredith faked him a smile and joined the others.

"Who is presenting the case?" Derek asked the interns.

Meredith took the chart and opened it.

"My favorite doctor, of course!" Mr. Straker said with excitement. His changed attitude made everyone from that room to look strange at him and Meredith.

Meredith has started the presentation "Mr.Straker, 34 years old, admitted for a chronic headache. The CT showed a tumor mass on the occipital lobe; he is also known with brain atrophy"

"I already feel much better! See doctor..." looking at Derek "This is how a doctor should talk with its sick patients" and he smiled at Meredith, who had started already to feel embarrassed.

"I think that I will heal perfectly if you will send Dr. Grey home with me! By the way Dr. Grey, what is your first name? Calling you Dr. all the time sounds so… professional"

Meredith faked another smile "Dr. Grey! My name is just Dr. Grey!"

At that point, all the doctors, except Derek and Bailey, were making fun of the scene.

"Ok Dr. Grey! We'll need a MRI first" Derek tried to act very professional.

"I don't know for sure what this means, but it doesn't matter if Dr.Grey will be there! All I know is that Dr. Grey is going to take me for a ride!" Mr. Straker continued to hit on Meredith.

Meredith looked desperate at Derek and sighed; Derek smiled at her to encourage her.

"Can the blonde one come too?" he said smirking at Izzie.

Izzie turned red of anger and almost fly at him, but Alex stopped her.

Bailey wasn't very happy with the scene that the patient was doing, so she decided to help Meredith a little and said that she will take him to MRI.

This made Mr. Straker to jump "What? No! I am not going anywhere without Dr. Grey!"

"Take him to MRI and I'll come too right away; I have one more visit to make!" Bailey asked a nurse.

And the nurse started to wheel him, while he was screaming.

Bailey and the others interns went outside too.

"Dr. Bailey, can I get off this case?" Meredith stopped Bailey.

"Dr. Grey, this man is sick and your job is to cure him; a good doctor can handle a difficult patient and this is a difficult patient; but if you want to quit, then quit!"

They came out of the room and Derek was on hallway writing down something on a file "Dr. Shepherd, I'll send you another intern!" Bailey told him

"Why?" He asked confused not understanding why she wants to give him another intern instead of Meredith.

"Dr. Grey gave up on this case!" and she looked disappointed at Meredith "She doesn't feel capable to take care of this patient"

"But Dr. Grey, this kind of patient shows what good doctor you are!" Derek tried to convince her, giving her a smile and a look that pleaded her not to give up.

That made Meredith to feel more confident so she accepted and Bailey left to do the MRI, saying that she will page Meredith after. Until the MRI was ready, Derek asked her to attend him to his patients.

They took the elevator and when they were left alone in it Derek put his arm around her waist "I can't believe that you almost gave up on your chance to work with me today!"

"That guy freaks me out!"

Derek laughed and kissed her head "If you have me around you shouldn't freak out!"

Meredith looked up at him and smiled "What? Now you are my night and shiny whatever?"

Derek laughed and kissed her again "I like to believe that I am!"

He saw her yawning "I guess my coffee is helpful, isn't it!"

"It helps me stay awake at least!"

The door opened on their floor, so he took his arm away from her waist and led her to their first patient.

Derek asked a nurse to prepare Mr. Straker for surgery, so that Meredith not to be bound to stand him too much.

They were washing their hands in the scrub room, when Mr. Straker started to scream at the nurses for Dr. Grey to come and assist at his surgery.

Derek and Meredith saw him through window how agitated he was, so Derek told her that she should go in there and calm him down, so that he can be put under anesthesia. Meredith sighed and dried her hands, then she went to Mr. Straker.

"Dr. Grey! Thank God you're here! I thought you left me alone!" he said when he saw her coming in.

"Mr. Straker, please calm down! We need to put you under anesthesia so we can start"

"So will you assist too, won't you?"

"Yes Mr. Straker, but only if you'll let me get ready and if you will breath this happy gaze" She said picking up the mask and trying to place it over his face.

"Ok, but call me Dan!"

"Sleep well Mr. Straker!" and she placed the mask over his mouth and nose.

The surgery took about 3 hours and after they saved him, Derek told Meredith to go and eat something and not to worry about Mr. Straker. Meredith thanked him and went to patio.

She bought herself a salad and a yogurt and set down on a table. She was feeling so tired, that she first put her head down on table and rest it. Almost instantly, she napped.

"Dr. Grey! Meredith" a voice and a hand on her shoulder woke her up.

Meredith raised her head and saw Richard standing in front of her table. She looked confused around her and realized that she must have fallen asleep.

"Dr. Shepherd and I talked and we decided that you should go home and sleep!"

"Thank you chief!" she said with relief

"Come on, I'll give you a ride home! You can't drive like this!"

Meredith changed her clothes fast and then she met Richard in lobby, who took her home.

Around 8 o'clock that evening, the door bell rang at Meredith's house and Izzie went to answer.

"Dr. Shepherd!"

"Good evening Dr. Stevens! Is Meredith home?" Derek asked her.

Izzie opened the door large so that he can come in "She is still sleeping. Her room is upstairs at the end of…"

But Derek cut her smiling "I think I know where it is; thank you!" and he headed upstairs.

"Tell her that the dinner is almost ready" she told him, as he was climbing the stairs.

He found her laying between the messed up sheets, with the covers almost off the bed and her head off the pillow. Her hair was also messed up and it was covering her face. She was wearing a grey t-shirt that was lifted up a little, revealing a small part of her waist and some grey pajamas pants.

Derek laid next her and brushed the hair away from her face, then he slipped his hand over the exposed part of her waist.

By the feeling of his touch, Meredith started to wake up.

"I thought that the sleeping beauty needs a kiss to wake up" he said smiling at her.

"Well, if I am the sleeping beauty, then find out that I am not awake yet"

Derek laughed and rolled her over so that he can kiss her lips. Meredith giggled and wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight.

"Was this the magic kiss that you needed?" he asked while he pulled away from her mouth.

Meredith nodded smiling and pulled him again for another kiss; this time Derek's lips started to mark every inch of her face and his hands to travel along her body under her shirt.

"What are you doing here anyway? Weren't you supposed to walk Doc?" Meredith asked him while Derek was kissing her.

He stopped from what he was doing and looked at her smiling "Mark has Doc and I came to see your new sheets". He set up and looked around the room "It looks more decent now!"

Meredith set up too and slapped his arm laughing.

Derek leaned back to her and gave her another kiss "Stevens said something about dinner"

Meredith got out of the bed and headed to bathroom "Good, coz I am starving. Wait me here!" and she entered inside.

"Do you need help in there?" Derek asked her, when Meredith was closing the door.

"_Not now"_ she giggled from behind the door.

Derek stood up and went over her bathroom and leaned on door "You know, you still owe me a shower over your place"

Meredith opened the door and Derek almost fell, making her to giggle, "I know, but now we are going to have dinner, come" and she grabbed his hand and took him downstairs.

Alex was helping Izzie to set the table, while Christina and George were laying lazy in front of the tv, when they got there.

Seeing Meredith and Derek coming in, George jumped up "Dr. Shepherd!" and started to behave shy "Good evening!"

Christina looked up at them and almost laughed at George's abashment.

Meredith set down on couch next to Christina, while Derek went into kitchen.

"The dinner is ready Dr. Shepherd! Is Meredith up?", Izzie told him, as he was coming in.

"Yes, she is living room; can I help you with those Karev?" when he saw him with some dishes.

"Sure, if you want"

Derek helped Alex to set the table, then everyone went to have the dinner. During the meal, the main subject was the hospital and the surgeries until one point when Alex asked Meredith if she told her mother already about her new relationship.

Meredith looked at them "First of all, I would like to ask you something; could you please call each other by your first name, because this makes me feel very uncomfortable?"

Derek nodded and looked at each other "I wouldn't mind"

And the others agreed too.

"Good! Now about my mom…" and she looks at Derek "I didn't tell her; we wanted to tell her … yesterday, but I chickened out"

At this words Alex gave her an accusing look; a look that Meredith saw it "But I will… in the near future"

"I just hope that the near future means for you the next days Mer!"

Meredith starts to get irritated by Alex's tone "I don't know Alex"

"Meredith, it will be worst if you she finds out in a different way, besides is not like she is going to kill her own daughter for this"

Meredith laughed ironical "Do you want to bet?"

"You are over reacting Meredith"

"Please Alex, stay out of this, ok? I am aware of what could happen if she finds out in a different way" saying that she stands up from table and throws the napkin on it "but I need time" and left the room angry.

Derek stood up "I'll go after her"

He found her in her bedroom, laying on bed. He laid next to her and slipped his arm behind her neck. Meredith moved her head in his chest and reached for his other hand and intertwining her fingers with his. Derek rubbed her back and gave her a kiss on forehead.

"I will tell her Derek! I know that I have to, but I am not ready!"

"I know Mer! We'll wait!"

The silence fell over them and they were just cuddling each other.

"I am scared" Meredith mostly said it as a whisper.

Derek rolled her over and got on top of her smoothing her hair "Don't be scared; you have me!"

Meredith smiled at him and ran her hands through his hair "Are you my night and shiny…whatever?"

Derek laughed and crashed his lips into hers "I can be whatever you want me to be baby" and his tongue forced her mouth to open and met hers. She started to play with her tongue in his mouth too, as her hands went from his hair, on his neck and then on his back lifting his shirt.

When she felt her breath taking away, Meredith tried to push him away, but Derek's lips stood firm on hers. Soon she started to shake up her hands and with her entire power, she pushed him away and stood up from bed. She made a few steps, and then she turned around and looked at Derek.

She started to laugh when she saw Derek's frustrated face.

"What are you doing Meredith? We were in the middle of something!"

Meredith continued to laugh "Not we; maybe you were doing something, but I wasn't"

Derek continued to lay back in bed frustrated "Excuse me? Then what were your hands doing under my shirt?"

"I wanted to help you getting ready for shower" and she smirked at him "But if you don't want to, I'll shower alone" and she turned around to enter the bathroom.

From one move, Derek was up and next to her "Finally!!!" as he put his arm around her waist and leaded her inside "I can't wait to see how your bathroom looks like"

Meredith closed the door behind them and went to turn on the water. In just one second, she removed her clothes and stepped under water. In the next second, Derek was under shower too.

He took her hair and started to wet him under the hot water douche, while she was rubbing his chest. When her hair was wet enough, he pulled her tight into him and holding her hair back with one hand and wiping the water away from her face with the other one he started to kiss her passionately. By the feel of his taste, Meredith went her hands again through his hair.

From her head, Derek went down her body squeezing her skin from place to place, his hands remaining longer on her breasts. He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around him. When the orgasm hit them, Meredith let her head back, while Derek was trying to catch her chin with his mouth.

He let her down and she rested in his arms for a moment.

Derek took the shampoo from the bath patten and poured some in his hand to start massaging her hair.

After they both washed each other, Derek took a towel and dried Meredith, starting from head and continuing down to her body. Then he dried himself too and they went back to bedroom.

They set down on the bed edge, Meredith wrapped in her towel and Derek with his wrapped around his waist. He put his arm around her and she rested on him. They stood like this for a few moments, just enjoying with each other.

"I hope you won't bug me anymore with the shower," she said

"What? This was like half of shower; plus, you owe me many showers"

Meredith stood up and came in front of him "What are you saying? That I wasn't good enough?" and she slapped his shoulder.

"Ouch" Derek rubbed the spot that Meredith hit it "That's not what I meant" and pulled her down on bed and got on top of her "You were, lets say…" and he paused pretending to think about it. This made Meredith to hit him again, more gently this time.

"Pretty amazing" he continued and then kissed her "but this was just the first shower from a series that we will have here from now on"

"Maybe… only if you behave nice"

"I can behave very nice! Just watch me" and with that he unwrapped the towel from her and threw it on floor.

As he was kissing around her neck, a knock on door was heard.

"_Mer, can we talk?"_ Alex's voice came from behind the door.

"No Alex, not now!"

"_We need to talk Meredith! I want apologize for earlier"_

Meredith was trying hard not to let out a moan coming from Derek's kisses "It's ok Alex… you are forgiven … really"

"_Meredith, can I come in?"_

"Nooo! I told you are forgiven for everything that you said and done to me …and for everything that you will do to me…just leave"

In that moment Alex realized what was happening in there and he stepped back embarrassed _"Oh… oh…I am sorry Meredith… Dr. Shepherd…umm Derek…we'll talk later"_

"He understands the signs with difficulty, but he is a smart boy" Derek took a short break and smiled at Meredith "Don't you think we should lock the door?"

Meredith pulled his head back on her "Don't worry about them!"

-----------------------

**This one was chapter 13, but if this won't get any review either, then it was the last one. I'm sorry!**


	14. Bad Morning

"Meredith", "Psst, Meredith", "Meredith wake up". This were the whispers that woke Meredith up.

When she opened her eyes, Meredith saw Christina on her bedside. Derek was sleeping very close to her and with an arm over her body.

"Christina" Meredith said with a low voice.

"Come on Meredith, get up! We have to go!"

"Go where?"

"To jog"

Meredith rubbed her eyes with her free arm and looked over to see what time is.

"At 5 o'clock, Christina?"

"Yes; I don't want Alex to wake up and come with us! So come on, move!"

Meredith groaned "But I don't want to"

"But you like to jog"

"Not today; but you don't like to jog; why do you want to jog now?"

"Because, I need to jog; now move! Besides, the jog is good after a whole night of sex; it helps you refill with positive energy"

"If she needs to be refilled with positive energy, I'll give her a whole morning of sex, so leave now!" Derek almost yelled at her, not opening his eyes.

"Sst… I told you I don't want Alex to wake up" Christina whispered to Derek, not being very scared of his tone. "Let's go Meredith… Please!"

Meredith knew that Christina is not a jog fan and if she needed positive energy, she would have left already to hospital to hunt the best cases for that day, so this time might be something more serious.

"Fine; I'm coming. Now let me take a shower and I'll be down in a few minutes"

"Oh… I can wait for you here"

"Get out Christina! I need privacy!"

"Seriously Mere, I am a doctor, and a pretty good one" at this statement Derek, who was still with the eyes closed, laughed. Christina ignored him and continued, "So I know anatomy and I don't think that your anatomy has anything more special than mine"

"You might be surprised to find out what differs" Derek continued to laugh and Meredith slapped his arm and removed it from her body.

She wanted to get up, but Derek put his arm back on her and a leg over hers to hold her tight.

"Derek, please!" Meredith pleaded him as she was trying to escape from him.

"Don't worry Meredith, I am strong enough to save you!"

"Touch me Yang and I will make sure that you won't step into an OR for a while; and I mean it!" Derek said as he came closer to Meredith and buried his face into her hair.

"You know you can't do that; it would be a personal revenge"

"She's right Derek!"

"Ok, look I am waiting for you downstairs, but you would better come down in less then 10 minutes" Christina threatened her and left the room.

Once the door was closed, Derek climbed over Meredith and started to bite her ear lobe "I thought I told you to lock the door"

Meredith laughed and try to release from his bits "I am sorry!", then Derek stopped and faced her "Show me how sorry you are and I might consider to let you go out and jog"

Meredith pulled his head to her and started to kiss his lips; Derek responded to her kiss so soon they turned it into a passionate one.

Meredith started to groan while they were kissing "I don't… want to jog…"

"That's … great… because I don't …want you to … jog either" and he moved down to her neck, sucking it from place to place, then he went down to her collar bone and kissed it as he was starting to massage her breast.

"Oh Derek!!!" she started to moan as she was running her hands through his curls. She managed to brought his head back to her face and gave him a deep kiss, then she pulled away "I have to go now!" and immediately she got out of the bed.

"Meredith, what are you doing?" Derek protested.

"I'm sorry, but I will go with her" and she entered in bathroom.

Derek stood up in his sit and pleaded her "Meredith you can't leave me like this!"

Meredith showed her head on the bathroom's door "I am sorry! I really am!"

"You will pay me for all this teasing!" Derek threatened her, but Meredith had already closed the door, so she didn't hear him.

When she came out of the shower, she was wrapped into a towel and she started to look for some clothes. She looked over to Derek who was having his entire face buried in pillow. She sighed and continued to get dress. Then she went to bed and bent over to Derek to kiss his back neck "I'm sorry! I'll make it up to you I promise!"

"You can be sure of that" Derek mumbled from pillow.

"I'll see you later!"

---------------------------------------------

She found Christina downstairs, pacing around the hallway "Finally! I was ready to come and dismount you!"

"Hey, I am here now, so stop complaining, plus … you have just ruined my matinee sex and I got my boyfriend mad at me"

"I am sure you will have some … McSex later into an on call room, so don't worry about it!"

Meredith laughed and opened the door.

**----------------------------------------------**

The morning was cloudy, but with all this the park was still populated with people that were jogging and people that were walking their dogs. At that hour everyone who having an habit to go on park every morning, were also workers, so they were hurrying to finish with their morning wake up or with their duties.

As they walked into park Meredith was ready to start running, but she saw that Christina wasn't planning to do the same. Instead of start running, Christina looked for green area and set down on grass.

"What do you think you are doing Christina? I thought you brought me here to run, not to sit!"

Christina didn't answer her; she just laid back on grass. When she saw Christina doing that, Meredith put her hands in shoulders and patted with the foot nervously.

"You should come and join me and stop annoying me!" Christina said to Meredith staring at the sky.

"Am I annoying you?! I would rather lay in bed next to Derek at this hour then here with you!"

Christina continued to watch the sky with her arms under her head, "You can lay next to him tomorrow morning! This a much better way of laying back and relax, then laying back and have sex"

Meredith set down next to Christina and looked at her "Come on spit it out! What is happening?"

"Since when the men got so serious in their relationships?"

Meredith raised her eyebrow and looked curious at Christina "I am not following it!"

"He asked me to move in with him!" and she looked at Meredith.

"He?" Meredith asked her.

"Yes, he!"

"Oh… the attendant. Your attendant!" and Meredith smiled suggestively at her.

Christina rolled her eyes and returned her look over the sky "Wow, you really are smart!" with an ironic tone.

Meredith laid back too and faced her "So, what is the problem?" and Christina looked at her.

"The problem is that I don't want to move in with him! This would mean a serious relationship and later I'll be in the same situation as you and McDreamy…. The Chief will have to know."

"Don't you want a serious relationship with him?"

"No; I am not the committed type. I am committed, but to surgeries, not to love"

"Then broke up with him"

"I can't"

"Why?" and Meredith stood up in her sit and looked at her smiling "You are in love with him Christina, aren't you?"

Christina stood up in her sit too in defense "No! I am not! If you fell in love with your boss, it doesn't mean that I am in love with mine too." And she laid back down again.

Meredith laughed. "You are so in love" she said while she was laying back too and received a glare from Christina for her comment.

Meredith was determined to find out who was Christina talking about, so after a few moments of silence she spoke up, "I know it is still too early, but did you make an idea about what specialty you will want to follow in future?"

Christina continued to watch the sky "I will go to cardiology," she said with confidence.

Meredith smiled and stood up in her sit "Dr. Burke must have strong arguments to make you take this decision"

Christina stood up too and looked at her; Meredith responded with a smirk "So Dr. Burke is your secret sex partner! Not bad Christina!"

"How…??"

Meredith laughed at her. For the first time Christina Yang was speechless, "How did I find out? I know you were having doubts about my intelligence, but I think with this I proved you how smart I am"

Christina rolled her eyes and returned to her laying position "Whatever". And Meredith laid down too next to her "Why don't you give a try to your relationship?"

Christina looked at her "No! What we have is totally different from what you two have; we have just … sex… and extra medical information, instead you and …McDreamy share more then this… you are in love with each other"

Meredith shook her head "No, it's not love!"

"Are you serious Meredith or are you blind? Of course you have love; at least coming from him. Do you think he would have been ready to ruin his reputation by admitting that he is in love with his intern, if he wouldn't be in love with you?"

Meredith remained quiet and copied Christina's gesture to watch the sky.

"And why were you crying your eyes out the other day if it isn't love?"

"I don't know… he is … sweet, caring, charming… the sex is … amazing, but I don't think it is love"

"What is your definition for love then? Maybe you know one that I don't!"

"Well…" and again Meredith remained quiet.

"See? This is love! This is you diagnosis… in love!"

Meredith sighed, "Yeah; I guess it is" and both of them stayed there in silence.

"Come on" Christina urged Meredith while she was standing up and Meredith followed her up, "Where?"

"To jog! Isn't this the reason that I kidnapped you for by McDreamy's side?"

"I thought that the reason was the need of confession otherwise I wouldn't have come!"

Christina had already started to run "That was the reason, but I need to jog too! I'll jog now, I'll cut later and my day will be perfect."

Meredith started to run too "You are a strange woman Christina!"

"_This is what makes me special"_ Christina had yelled from the long distance that was separating her from Meredith.

--------------------------------------------

They made a few laps around the park and then they headed home.

There they found everyone, except Derek in kitchen.

"I can't believe you went out to jog and didn't tell me" Alex reproached Meredith when he saw them coming in all sweaty.

Meredith patted his shoulder while she was taking a sip from his coffee "Sorry!"

"First it was McDreamy and his … McDog (and at that comment everyone laughed), now it is Christina, who's your next jog partner? George?"

George was eating from his toast and shook his head when he heard Alex "No, I don't jog"

"I was your jog partner Meredith, when did I lose you?"

Meredith ruffled his hair laughing, "Speaking of… McDreamy, where is he?"

"He left earlier and he was looking grouch! I bet he didn't like either that you changed the jog partner."

Meredith set down on table next to him and sighed. She then took the toast from Alex's plate and took the butter from George's face.

Everyone was looking at her.

"Stop whining Meredith! I told you, find a room later and the problem is fixed" Christina tried to wash her guilt.

"Are two having troubles already?" Alex asked Meredith.

Izzie laughed "Coz last night you didn't seem to have any; at least not 'unpleasant' ones"

Meredith continued to eat and still not looking at them "No; we are fine; it was just… a bad awaking call"

The others were looking at each other. "Don't worry, he was probably too tired to keep it up with you, but I am sure that he will be fine" Izzie said.

"Yeah, he worked really hard last night, and he is a human; he gets exhausted Meredith!" Alex also tried to comfort her.

Meredith looked at them and noticed that each of them was having a weird smile on their faces and Christina had almost spitted out the coffee when she heard Izzie and Alex.

"He is not so McDreamy after all!" George muttered for himself when he took a bit from his toast.

Then Meredith understood what they were referring at, so she snapped at them, "What?" making everyone to laugh. "And why are you laughing Christina? It was your entire fault!"

George who was standing next to Christina, looked at her smiling "A threesome?"

"No!" Meredith yelled at him and Christina slapped his head causing the toast he was eating to smudge his face with butter and jam.

Meredith stood up from table and headed to door nervous "I am going to shower!"

"Stop teasing her! It was my fault; I ruined their morning!"

The teas stopped only when Meredith came back to them after shower. Meredith drove Christina and George to work, and Alex drove Izzie.

In that day Christina was assigned to Ellis's service, Meredith with Burke, Izzie with Dr. Torres in ortho, George with Bailey and Alex to pit.

Not too long after the shift had started, Izzie met Meredith on hallway.

"God what a horrible day!" Izzie complained as she was walking towards to Meredith.

"Why Izz?"

"I work in ortho today and do you have any idea how hard is to straight the bones?!" she gets a crying voice "I fixed the patients bones and I broke mines!"

Meredith laughed and patted her back friendly.

"How is in cardio today?" Izzie asked her.

"I don't have a great day either! Burke is nervous and he is snapping at all his interns. None of us can scrub in with him today; we will be running labs all day" Meredith whined too.

Both of them they were leaning against the nurse station looking straight ahead.

Izzie laughed "It is better to run then to smash bones all day; besides you are already trained for running!"

Meredith laughed too and shook her head "I am trained, but after a night of sleep, but last night… I didn't get enough sleep!"

"Blame McDreamy!"

"No, I blame Christina!"

"Dr. Grey! The labs are not going to be done by themselves; they need your help to be done so move and stop the chat" Burke yelled at her, when he saw her talking to Izzie.

"Here starts my second lap" she said to Izzie and started to run.

Izzie sighed and returned to her bones.

When Burke had stopped from ordering labs, Meredith headed to the OR 3 where she knew that Christina was scrubbing in with her mother. She was walking lazy and yawning on hallway, when Derek saw her coming from the opposite direction.

"It wasn't that refreshing the jog Dr. Grey, was it?" he asked her smiling when he had approached her more.

Meredith saw him and smiled at him.

Derek got next to her and he started to walk by her side "Anything good so far?" he asked her.

Meredith shook her head "No surgeries for Dr. Burke's interns today; just labs and charts"

"What did you do to piss him?"

"We didn't do anything," Meredith said in defense. "I need something immediately to refresh me!" she complained herself.

Derek grinned at her "I have some solutions to help you?"

"You do?" Meredith smiled at him excited and Derek continued to grin "I do, but I won't help you, since you was so cruel to me this morning!"

Meredith frowned "You are rancorous!"

"No I am not!" He pretended to be offend "And to prove you, see me here at lunch"

Meredith raised an eyebrow and smiled "1 o'clock?"

"1 o'clock" Derek confirmed smiling and he turned around to go where he was supposed to go.


	15. His Date& Her Date

**Thank you all for still reading this fic and for your encouraging reviews. I appreciate!!**

**------------------------------------**

At 1 o'clock Meredith was waiting for Derek on the 4th floor. She soon saw him coming and holding two jackets in his hands.

"What are you doing with these?" She asked him laughing.

Derek winked at her and handed her one "This is for you!"

Meredith took it, still looking suspicious at him.

"Follow me" he motioned her to follow him.

--------------------------

She soon saw that Derek had taken her on roof. The wind was blowing hard at that altitude.

Meredith started to shiver "Derek, it's freezing! What are we doing here?"

"Put the jacket on and don't worry we are not here to receive a medical case! We are here to resolve your case and to have lunch!"

Meredith raised her eyebrow suspicious "My case?! Lunch?! Here?"

Derek laughed and put down the bag. He then set down at the edge of an air hole, "Yes; I am helping you to get easy through all the running that you are doing today and to wake you up!"

"And to freeze my ass!"

Derek laughed and pulled her in his arms, placing a hand on her lower back "Don't worry about it, I'll warm it later"

Meredith laughed and kissed him "Aren't you mad at me for this morning?"

"I still am, a little, but I also realized that I can use that in my favor!" and he smirked at her smiling.

Meredith shook her head smiling and slapped his arm "Dirty favors, huh?"

"Come on! I am sure that you will love to do all those dirty favors!"

She didn't say anything, she just smiled and bent down to take the food bag. When she opened it, she gave Derek an angry look.

"Just a sandwich? I thought you can afford more!"

"I can afford more, but I thought that being here with me you won't need too much food!"

Meredith rolled her eyes smiling at him "Having sex with you on the hospital's roof is not just a dirty favor, it is also a cruel thing to ask me"

"Hey, but I wasn't referring on sex; I was talking about my simple presence"

Meredith laughed and shook her head "If you will want me to do all those favors, I need more calories, since a lot of physical activity is going to be required"

"Damn it! You're right!"

Meredith laughed and took out a sandwich and one of the cups. After she took a sip from her cup she looked at Derek who had started to eat from his "Tea?! What about coffee?"

"A hot tea is much better then a coffee in a cold atmosphere and it also much healthier"

Meredith sighed and continued to eat from her sandwich "I should stop dating doctors!"

"Hey, I heard that!"

Meredith looked at him faking a smile "But I am still doing it, so I will have to go along with him"

Derek smiled and bent to kiss her "That's much better!"

Very soon Derek got a 911 call. He stood up sighing and cleaned his leftovers, while Meredith sighed with relieve.

"It wasn't that bad!" Derek told her when she saw her expression.

"No, but my ass has frozen for real"

"I told you I'll take care of it later!"

"This is not warming it!"

Derek pulled her to him and started to rub it "But I bet that this is warming it!"

Meredith giggled and kissed him.

--------------------------------------

When she left the roof, she was still on her lunch break, so she went to take something more consistent for eating. In patio she saw her friends eating on a table; she bought herself food and a coffee and went to them.

"Where are you coming from and why are you shivering?" Alex asked when he saw her coming.

Meredith put her tray on table and set down between Christina and George.

"Don't ask!" she said with a serious look on her face and taking a big sip from her coffee.

"She surely didn't have sex, otherwise she shouldn't have been so cold" Christina almost laughed at her.

"Maybe Burke sent her to make a run until the other side town." Izzie said.

"Anything interesting today? How is it going with the bones Izzie and how is your day with my freaky mommy Christina?" Meredith asked those two to make them shut up.

They decided not to continue to tease her and they changed the subject to surgeries. Izzie complained about her broken bones and Christina bragged with her super cool surgery that she assisted with Ellis, making everyone to blame Meredith for asking her that.

At the end of the lunch, only Meredith and Christina remained on table.

"My boyfriend can be more professional than yours, Christina!"

"First of all, what do you mean? And secondly, don't call him my boyfriend"

"Apparently your … boyfriend, can't separate his personal life from the professional one; he is a jerk, sorry for this, but he really is (Christina approves this by nodding), and takes out his frustrations on his interns."

"Why are complaining about this to me? Anyway, as if it yours can act more professional; do you remember when he didn't let me scrub in because I wasn't smiling? That was totally unprofessional!"

"Hey don't compare them! He had a good reason to ask you to look happier, but yours doesn't have a reason to ban us from his OR"

Christina shrugged and looked down in her tray, playing with the trash from it.

"Why don't you break up with him, Christina?" but her question remained without an answer "You are in love with him, aren't you?"

Christina stood up and picked up her tray "Dr. Webber has another surgery soon!" then she leaves.

-------------------------------------

At the end of the shift Meredith was ridding the elevator to go to locker room, when the doors opened at one floor and Derek got in, already dressed in street clothes. Since they were alone in there, when the doors closed Derek pulled Meredith in his arms "Finally" and he kissed her "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, I just need to change the clothes"

"Where are we heading after, my place or your place?"

Meredith was smiling at him wide, "To restaurant"

"I can cook for you if you are hungry!"

"No, I want to make it up to you for this morning, so I am inviting you out to dinner"

Derek looked at her weird.

"What? You have never been invited out to dinner by a female?" she asked him, when she saw his look.

Derek pulled her again to him, holding her tighter that time "This make up of yours will last for how long?"

Meredith smiled suggestively at him and gave him a quick kiss "All night!"

The doors opened at Meredith's floor, so Derek had to let her go.

"Can you pick me up later from home? I need to shower and look for something to wear!"

"Is it going to be fancy?"

"Not very fancy"

"Ok, I'll pick you up later"

The doors closed and Meredith headed to locker room smiling.

---------------------------------------------

Since her roommates wanted to stop at Joe's for a while, Meredith asked them to drop her home first. Derek was at her door exactly when she was just finishing getting ready.

"Wow! Are you sure you still want to go out?" Derek took her in his arms when she saw her in doorway "You can make it up to me here only, and I'll be more then happy!"

Meredith pulled away from him, took her purse, and then his hand, "Let's go Derek!" and they walked to his car.

Derek opened the door for her, then he got in too and Meredith instructed him to the restaurant that she had made reservations at.

When they got there, a young hostess greeted them. "Good evening! Welcome to** 'Il Bistro'!"**

"We have a reservation for two, under the name of Grey"

"Let me take you to your table Mrs. Grey!"

Derek and Meredith followed her and she leaded them to their table. Derek held the chair for Meredith to sit down and whispered to her ear "You should have been doing this, since you invited me"

Meredith laughed and slapped playful his hand from her shoulder.

Derek set down too and the hostess gave them the menus, telling them that a waitress will come soon and take their orders.

"Did you think about us… talking to your mother?"

Meredith didn't look at him; she just shook her head.

"Meredith"

"Derek, please! Believe me it's not easy for me; you don't know my mother…you don't know Ellis, the mother… she can ruin our relationship, my career. I know I have to tell her, but … I don't know when and how… I need time"

Derek reached his hand over the table and took hers "Ok then! When you'll feel ready; but if you want to know my opinion… you'll never be ready and the best way to tell her is… just telling her"

He saw that she was affected by this conversation and he didn't want to ruin the night, so he squeezed her hand and gave her a comforting smile.

"Thank you!" Meredith smiled at him and bent over the table to meet his lips.

After dessert, Meredith motioned to their waitress to come and bring them the check.

"Meredith, I hope you were joking about this invitation of yours. Ok, you invited me, but… I am paying"

Meredith smiled at him and shook her head "No way! I invited you, I am paying"

"Meredith, this is embarrassing!"

"Derek, leave your ego away and be more… modern! There is nothing embarrassing in this!"

"At least let me pay now and you'll give me the money back"

She continued to shake her head smiling "No!"

In that moment, the waiter came with the check and handed to Derek.

"Oh no, give it to me" Meredith stopped her quickly.

That made the waitress to look strange at them, especially at Derek. Derek leaned back on chair and looked at Meredith shaking his head with disapproval. Meredith smiled at him and gave the waiter the money.

"Now she thinks that I invited you to dinner and that I can't afford to pay"

"Derek, why do you care what she thinks? You don't need to impress any other woman, but me, do you?"

Derek stood up smiling and helped her to get up too and then he leaded her to car.

"At least let me save some of my manners" Derek opened the door for her.

Meredith leaned on him and kissed him "You are a gentleman even when I am paying you the dinner"

Derek laughed and slapped her ass, while she was getting in car.

"Now you weren't such a gentleman"

Derek got in car too and looked at Meredith "Where do we go from here?"

"My place"

"Are you sure?"

"Don't worry; I'll lock the door this time!"

Derek bent over to her and gave her a soft kiss. Meredith cupped his head keeping the kiss longer. She pushed him away smiling "Let's save it for later"

-----------------------------------

They pulled the car on the driveway, in front of her house. When they stepped in a big noise made by TV was coming from living room, where George and Christina were laying bored in front of the TV and each of them holding a beer in its hand.

"Are you deaf or what?" Meredith yelled at them.

When they saw Meredith and Derek there, both of them groaned and Christina yelled, to make herself heard "Why did you have to come home tonight too?"

Meredith and Derek looked at each other confused and then back at them.

Christina rolled her eyes annoyed and turned off the TV's volume.

Once the sound was off, some moans and laughs could have been heard coming from upstairs.

George and Christina continued to stare at the TV, while Derek and Meredith were looking at each other.

"Are these…" Meredith started shocked

"Izzie and Alex?" George continued without looking at them

"Having sex? Yes!" Christina completed, also without giving them a look.

Now they understood why Christina didn't want them home too.

"I think we should go over my place" Derek whispered in Meredith's ear.

"You are a great man Derek Shepherd!" Christina complimented him with irony.

Meredith gave her a glare and started to drag Derek after her "It's too late now Derek! We are here, we stay here"

"Great!" George groaned at that.

"Come on Derek" Meredith continued to drag him after her upstairs. Derek knew that he won't convince her to go to his place, so he followed her resignedly.

When they got upstairs and passed by Alex's room, Meredith looked back at Derek giggling, "I hope this won't dispirit you"

Derek pushed her in her room and closed the door; he took her in his arms and started to kiss her "Are you having doubts regarding my abilities?"

His kiss already turned her on, so now she was having her hands running trough his hair and along his back "A few, but I am expecting you to prove me that I am wrong"

He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around him. Derek placed her on bed, starting to lift up her dress and to slip his hand under it, without leaving her mouth to catch some air.

"Derek…stop…"

"No"

When he felt her hand trying to push him away, Derek caught it and held it tight, still without letting her mouth.

"Derek"

Derek stopped and looked at her serious "Meredith, stop teasing me!"

"I'm not teasing you Derek! But we didn't lock the door and…"

Derek stood up and went to lock the door "The door is locked now!" In the meantime Meredith had stood up too and headed to her bathroom.

"What are you doing Meredith?" Derek followed her in there and saw that she turned on the water to fill the bathtub. "Meredith, you'll have a bath after" he wrapped his arm around her and started to kiss her neck "You smell great like this! You don't need a bath"

Meredith pushed him away and went back to bedroom.

Derek groaned and continued to follow her. She had turned on the music and looked at Derek smiling suggestively "This way, we'll get a better relax! Come!" she gave him a hand to follow her.

He took it and Meredith took him back to bathroom where the bathtub was almost filled with water and foam. A scent of lavender filled the air.

Meredith took off her clothes and stepped in it. Derek watched her sitting on toilet.

"Are you just going to watch or you will join me in here?"

He undressed himself, got in, behind her and took her in his arms. She relaxed under the pleasure of the massage he was giving her.

Soon, Derek had started to squeeze her skin and bite her ear lobe, "Can we please get out now? I can't stand it anymore"

Meredith got up right away "Me neither". She got out of the bathtub and dried her body with a towel.

When he got out too, Derek took her in his arms and started to kiss her neck "Let's go!"

"Dry yourself Derek!"

"Why? We are going to get wet soon anyway"

She started to kiss him and Derek lifted her up, wrapping her legs around him. He took her in bed placing himself on her.


	16. Unpleasent visit

Next morning the alarm went on at 5.30. Meredith groaned and started to nudge Derek with lazy moves.

"It's on your side Meredith"

"No, it's not" she mumbled sleepy.

Finally, Derek reached over her and pressed the snooze button, then he took Meredith in his arms and both of them fell back asleep.

After 15 minutes, the alarm started again and this time Meredith didn't show any intention of turning it off either. Derek groaned again and reached over her to stop it.

"Wake up Meredith! It's getting late!"

Meredith made herself more comfortable in bed "Uh huh" and Derek started to kiss her face.

"Wake up lazy!"

"I am up! I am up! Go away now!"

Derek laughed and slapped her hip playfully "I hope I won't hear you complaining, because it was your fault"

"Yeah, but you enjoyed it too and you didn't make me stop"

"I am going to shower and I hope I'll find you out of bed when I'll come back."

"Uh huh", but she put the pillow over her head.

When he came out of the shower, she saw Meredith still under the pillow sleeping. He uncovered her and dragged her out of the bed.

"I am up! Leave me alone now" Meredith stood up protesting and started to walk towards bathroom stumbling.

Derek watched her smiling and went downstairs. In kitchen, everyone was looking tired and quiet.

"Morning" He came in and went to the coffee pot to pour himself some coffee, but his salute was greeted with two groans coming from Christina and George and two "Morning" from Izzie and Alex.

Izzie was obviously very tired, so this time she prepared the breakfast just for her and Alex.

Derek took some milk and cereals for him and made some toast for Meredith.

When Meredith came in she didn't greet them as Derek did, but Christina and George did it, again with a groan.

Meredith rolled her eyes and took a sit next to Derek. She rested her head on his shoulder lazy, while Derek was bringing the plate with food in front of her.

He kissed her forehead and showed her the plate "Eat!"

Christina and George were the first ones who left to hospital; and unusual for them, they left together with the same car.

Derek drove Meredith and Alex took Izzie.

Even if they weren't late, Meredith, Izzie and Alex were greeted by Bailey with a glare, when she saw them looking like after a whole night of wild party. She was in locker room and she had already given the assignments to Christina and George.

"I hope you will have at least as much fun today as you had last night! Grey you are with Dr. Shepherd, Stevens you are in cardio with Dr. Burke and Karev you are writing the discharges! Now hurry up, because we have a busy day waiting for us"

Bailey left, followed by Christina and George, who were already dressed.

"At least I won't have such an exhausting day today" Alex sighed with resignation.

"If Burke's mood hasn't changed since yesterday, then I will sure have a hell day!"

"I don't want to discourage you, but it might not have changed that much" Meredith said it thinking at Christina's mood from last evening and from this morning.

Izzie sighed and slammed the door from her locker "At least you will be chased in an on-call room, not on hallways and laboratories like me"

Meredith and Alex looked at each other amused by her remark.

"Don't worry Izzie, I am too tired for that, so even if he tries I won't let him."

Everybody laughed and left the locker room.

Meredith called for elevator, and when the doors opened, she saw Derek, her mother and another doctor inside of it. Derek was staying somewhere behind the others, so when he saw her coming in got a wide smile on his face.

"Good morning" Meredith saluted everyone as she was stepping in.

Her mother answered her with her regular cold tone and Derek and the other doctor gave her a polite "Good Morning"

Once she got in, Meredith went in the back of it, staying behind all of them. Ellis and the other doctor were talking about a case, while Derek was giving glances to Meredith over his shoulder.

Ellis and the doctor got off together, leaving Meredith and Derek alone. When the doors closed, Derek turned to Meredith smiling and handing her one of the two coffees that he was holding. Meredith took it smiling suggestively at him.

"Are you buying coffee to all of your interns, Dr. Shepherd?"

Derek came so close to her that his body was touching hers and his face was in her hair "Just to one in particularly!"

"So are you feeling guilty for keeping me up all night, again?"

Derek wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her temple "A little, because you had your part of guilt too"

Meredith looked at him and gave him quick kiss on lips "I am your intern today!"

"In this case I apologize for the torture that I will cause you today, but we have a long and hard day"

When they got on neurology, Derek pulled apart from her and both of them took a professional behavior once they got out of the elevator.

"We are expecting two doctors from Chicago today; they want to see one of our patients; but now let me introduce you to our first patient."

The first surgery was scheduled for noon and until then Meredith had run some tests and assisted Derek on his consults. The surgery lasted longer than they thought it would take and after 4 hours, they got out of the OR.

"Do you believe in a full recovery?"

They were now at the nurses' station and Derek was filling up some papers. When Meredith asked him that, he bent down to her ear "We were pretty good in there so… yeah… I believe in full recovery"

"I need to check on more patient and then … maybe you will join me for lunch"

"It's already 4 o'clock, the lunch ended hours ago"

"We still have some free time to go and eat something"

"Isn't she Meredith Grey, the doctor?"

Meredith and Derek turned around to the voice that asked that. They saw two men standing not very far from them and one of them, the one that said that, was smiling at her. He was probably somewhere around her age and the other one seemed much older.

Meredith got a big smile on her face and went to him.

"Jim?!"

"That's me baby!"

Jim came to her and gave her a strong hug "How is my girl doing?"

"Working"

Jim pulled apart, but still holding her hands, he gave a look at her "You are a doctor now"

"Surprised?"

"Not at all; as mother as daughter! I can't believe that you chose to come here with Karev and you left me in Boston"

"Hey, if I had to consider my options, I chose the good guy!"

"Ouch! I am hurt Mere!"

Meredith laughed and slapped his arm.

"Where is bastard of Alex?"

"You are such an evil man Jim! He works of course… as a doctor! But what are you doing here?"

All this time Derek leaned his back on the nurse's station and watched the entire scene very disturbed by the intimacy between Meredith and that man.

"You will never guess what my job is!"

Meredith laughed and shook the head "You are definitely not a doctor"

Jim put his arm around her waist and approached her ear "I am doctor! Are you surprised?"

"I am very impressed!"

Jim laughed and kissed her temple "I thought so! I've missed you Mere!"

"I've missed you too Jim! But you still haven't told me why you are here?"

"Oh yeah, right!" he turned to the other man and motioned him to come closer "This is doctor Brandta neurosurgeon fromNorthwestern Memorial Hospitalwe are here for a consult!"

"So you are indeed a doctor"

"Meredith, now I am deeply hurt! I cannot believe that you did not trust me! Dr. Brandt, this is Dr. Meredith Grey!"

"Nice to meet you Dr. Grey! I suppose that you are the Dr. Grey, the Ellis's Grey daughter"

"That's me!"

"We are looking for Dr. Shepherd; do you know where we can find him?" Jim asked her.

For the first time since Jim was there, Meredith remembered that Derek was there too. He was even more disturbed by that situation, especially after what he saw how that man took his girlfriend in his arms and kissed her. The most annoying thing was that Meredith didn't seem bothered by his gestures and she did not seem to think to introduce him to her friend, or whatever that person was for her.

She turned her look to Derek "This is Dr. Shepherd!"

Once she said that, Derek came right away to them.

"Dr. Shepherd! I am happy to meet you finally! I am Dr. Brandt; we talked on phone yesterday about Mrs. Meyer's case."

"Oh yes, Dr. Brandt, nice to meet you too!"

"This is Dr. Martin, DrBrandt's intern!" Meredith introduced Jim to Derek.

"It's an honor to meet you Dr. Shepherd!"

"Dr. Martin!" Derek greeted him with coldness, but nobody noticed that.

Jim put his arm around Meredith's shoulder "You know what would make me very happy Mere? To tell me that you are Dr.'s Shepherd intern and that we'll work together!"

Meredith smiled at him "You are going to be very happy, even if you don't deserve it"

Derek did not appreciate Jim's attitude, so he put his arm around Meredith's waist. "She is one of our finest interns"

For the first time Meredith felt embarrassed and a little angry to have two men's arms on her back, so with discreet moves she took both of their arms and put them down.

"Mrs. Meyer is in room no. 348, if you want to see her! We'll be in there in a few minutes" Derek told them and motioned to Meredith to follow him.

After what he made sure that nobody sees them, he opened an on call room and dragged her inside. He turned on the light and locked the door.

Meredith saw in that moment an extremely angry look on his face.

"Who is this Dr. Martin, Meredith?"

Meredith wrapped her arms around his neck smiling "Are you jealous?"

Derek took her arms from him and stepped back still angry.

"You are jealous, aren't you?"

"Yes Meredith, I am jealous, now could you please tell me what was all that about?"

"Jim was my mate in the Med School. He used to be one of my and Alex's best friends in Boston!"

"Was he your boyfriend?"

"No, he wasn't my boyfriend" Meredith sighed and looked at him serious "This is his regular behavior"

"But why did you take my arm away from your back?"

"Derek, I took both of your arms away from me. I didn't need the people to start talking about me! You really have no reason to be jealous"

"Go and check Mr. Carlton if he woke up from anesthesia; then supervise his post op condition."

"I am not going to assist on Mrs. Meyer's consult?"

"No, you won't"

"So you are going to let our professional life to interfere in the professional one, Derek?"

"You are doing the exactly same thing, and I don't see to bother you!"

Meredith looked at him angry and stormed out of the room, leaving Derek alone in there. He took a sit on bed, thinking on what he had just done. This was very unprofessional from him side; he knew that, but the jealousy made him not to think clear.

Meredith did what Derek told her, and later he paged her. She found him waiting for her on the same floor, at the nurse's station.

"Mr. Carlton's condition is good Dr. Shepherd"

"Good!"

Both of them were using a cold tone and a cold attitude to each other.

"This is Mrs. Meyer's chart! I want you to read it and study about this case"

Meredith took the chart from Derek, and groaned when she saw Jim coming to them.

"Dr. ShepherdDr. Brandt is talking to the Chief Webber and he said that he will find you later"

"Ok!"

Jim noticed that Meredith was looking, besides sad, pale too, as if she was sick.

"Are you ok Meredith?"

Meredith avoided to look at him and turned around to leave fast "I'm fine!"

Once she turned around to leave, Meredith started to feel dizzy, thing noticed by both, Derek and Jim, who were looking after her.

When he saw her dropping the chart down, Derek went to hold her; in that moment she collapsed in his arms, losing her conscious for a second.


	17. Trouble maker

"Meredith! What happened?"

Jim came to them worried "Meredith, why didn't you tell me that you are pregnant?"

Meredith recovered her conscious fast and when she heard that, she looked up with panic at Derek.

"I am taking you in a room" Derek lifted her up on his arms and carried her to the nearest empty exam room.

He put her down on table exam and started to brush her hair with worry. Jim was right behind them, so he came in fast.

"I'm fine! I was just a little dizzy!"

"I'm taking you some blood samples Meredith!"

"No Derek, it's fine … I'm fine!"

"Meredith, if you are pregnant you should find out right now!"

"Shut up Jim! You don't know what you are talking about!"

"Meredith you are pale, you felt dizzy, you fainted… you are pregnant!"

"Do you mean that you are now an extraordinary doctor, Jim?"

Jim rolled his eyes and watched how Derek was drawing blood from her.

"I can't believe that you are pregnant!"

At Jim's last statement, Derek stuck the syringe's needle in Meredith's vena.

"Ouch Derek! Are you trying to massacre my vena?" and she turned her view to Jim "Could you please wait outside? There is nothing for you to see in here"

Jim shook his head, but he left the room without any other comment.

Derek took a cotton tampon and pressed hard on her arm to stop the bleeding "I'm sorry! Hold it tight here"

He let her hold the tampon on the injured place and he took another syringe and drew the blood from her other arm.

"I'll take the samples to laboratory; you should lay here for a while, then go and eat something"

They were still mad on each other, so Meredith did not say anything to him; she just turned her face in the opposite direction.

Right after what Derek left the room, Jim returned inside and came to her.

"What is going on between you and Shepherd? Are you having an affair with him?"

"Go away Jim! Go and find Alex and leave me alone!"

"Meredith, look at me! I may … not know too much medicine, but I do know how to read people, so I know for sure that there is something going on between you two. You are sleeping with him, aren't you?"

Meredith refused to look at him and stood quiet.

"Come on Mere, you know I am not that kind of person to judge! When I asked you if you are pregnant I saw the panic look that you gave to him and in here, the way you were arguing with him… it was like an argue between lovers. Why did you fight?"

Meredith stood up from bed and looked down "I don't want to talk with you about my private life". When she wanted to make the first step, another dizziness got her and Jim held her.

"Stay here for a while; you are obviously not in condition to walk! I'll let you rest now!"

Meredith did not say anything and she turned her back to him, so Jim left her alone. When she got alone, tears started to wet her eyes; it was the fight that she had with Derek, the possibility of being pregnant; all these overwhelmed her.

"_To be pregnant? This would make my mom very proud of me"_

-----------------------------------

Later, when she felt better and able to walk, Meredith went to patio to eat something. While she was eating, Derek came and set down at her table.

"I have the results of your tests!"

He seemed calmer and less angry. He even gave her a small smile.

Seeing him like this Meredith's depression got deeper. His new attitude could mean that she is pregnant.

Derek handed her the papers, but she refused to take them or to look at them.

"You are not pregnant; you sugar blood got lower, so this and the distress caused you the faint!" Meredith avoided his look and continued to eat "… for which, of course, I am guilty!"

Derek tried to make that sound like a joke to cheer her up a little and to make his way to apologies.

"I am sorry for your faint, for being jealous and for the bruise that I caused you!"

"So I was sure about Jim; he is not such a good doctor" she looked at him with a small smile on her face.

Derek's smile was much bigger than hers; they were about to make up with each other and this was good, because none of them couldn't stay angry too long.

"I told the Chief about what happened and he agreed to let you rest into an on-call room. We don't have too much work now, so you can go and rest."

"I will"

"Hey Mere! I met with Jim and he told me about what happened"

Alex came at their table and took a seat near her.

"I'm fine; just a little exhausted"

Alex laughed when she said that and looked at Derek "No really!"

Meredith laughed and slapped his arm "He is your boss, Alex!"

"So… you are not…"

"No, I am not!"

"Oh…and this is… a good thing, right?" Alex looked at both of them.

"Yeah… it is"

Meredith was the only one who answered him, but not very confident on what she was saying.

"Good then! I can't believe that the bastard of Jim is here!"

"You don't like him either, do you?" Derek asked him.

Alex and Meredith looked at each other and smiled.

"What? Do I smell some… jealousy in air?"

"No… of course not!" but when Meredith looked at him he changed it right away "Maybe just some!"

"In this case let me assure you that you don't have any reason to be jealous on him. Meredith would not have an affair with him, not even if he was the last man on Earth"

"Oh…ok… This is more… calming."

"So… if you are calmer about it… you wouldn't mind if Meredith will join us tonight for a drink at Joe's"

"First you should ask me if I want to come!"

"Meredith, it's fine you can go! I don't mind!"

"It is not about that, but I am already too tired; I don't feel like hanging out tonight"

"He can come over to our place… if you don't mind, because it is your house"

Meredith looked at Derek to see his reaction. She knew that Alex's assurance didn't make his jealousy go away, but she would rather prefer to have Jim at her house than to go out.

"I think it is a better idea Meredith! We both need a break and I am sure that Doc misses me!"

"Ok then! He can come!"

Meredith stood up picking up her tray, "I have to go now!"

Derek looked up at her smiling. He would have wanted to stand up and kiss her, but he knew that he can't so he abstained himself, "I'll see you later Meredith"

"You really have to reason to be worried for Jim, Derek!" Alex wanted to assure him again, after what Meredith left their table.

Derek just nodded; he was still not more comfortable with that guy's presence.

Later he went to check on Meredith; he found her sleeping into an on-call room. Without making any noisy moves to scare her, he closed the door and locked it and then he laid next to her.

When she felt his embracement, Meredith woke up and turned around to face him. Derek brushed her hair away from her face and gave her a soft kiss on lips.

"How are you feeling?"

"Much better!" she snuggled in his arms and kissed him back. "This is a good thing, right?"

Derek didn't understand what she was talking about, so he stood quiet.

"That I am not pregnant … it is good, right?"

Derek let out a sigh and held her tighter on him "Yes… it is!"

"I will not participate on Mrs. Meyer's case! I did not study anything for it, so I cannot scrub in"

Derek kissed her forehead, "I know! Are you feeling ready to go back to work?"

Meredith left his arms and stood up in her sit "I am"

Derek followed her up "I want you to write some charts for me"

--------------------------------------

Derek was giving to Meredith the charts, when Jim found them again.

"Dr. Shepherd, Meredith!"

Both of them sighed when they heard him.

Again, Jim put his arm around Meredith's waist and pulled her closer to him, making Derek to glare him.

"How is my favorite mom doing?"

Meredith faked a smile "I am not your favorite and I am not a mom either, so stop!"

Jim took his arm away from her waist and leaned himself on counter "I am sorry Mere! The last thing that I want is to make you mad at me. Now that I have seen you again after such a long time, I would like to spend some time together… you know … to remember the good old times"

"_To remember the good old times."_ He didn't know exactly what that meant, but it did not sound too good to Derek; Meredith changed her fake smile into a sincere one.

"I do not know if Alex told you, but I thought that we could go out tonight and have a drink"

"If you behave nice until then…maybe"

"I promise I will!"

Meredith saw Izzie coming to them and looking tired. She leaned on counter too, between Meredith and Jim.

"Hey Mere, Dr. Shepherd"

Derek was looking weird at her, "You look… refreshed"

"What is it Izz? He is still in a bad mood, isn't he?"

Izzie sighed and rested her head on Meredith "Yeah!"

"Who is in a bad mood?"

"Dr. Burke!" she answered him, without bothering herself from the position that she had taken.

"That is weird, because Dr. Burke never spells his bad mood on his interns!"

"I don't know what is wrong with him, but he also tortured Meredith yesterday!"

Derek smiled at Meredith "So it was indeed not your fault", but at his joke, Meredith glared him "It must my something seriously wrong with him, because I know him as a good teacher"

"_It is only Christina's fault!"_ Meredith shook her head smiling at her thought.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend, Meredith?"

Since Izzie came to them, Jim was left completely out of their attention.

Izzie looked for the first time at him and then at Meredith.

"He is Dr. Martin! He was my and Alex's mate in the Med School! She is Dr. Stevens!"

Izzie didn't know what kind of person Jim is, so she greeted him politely.

"Hi! I am Izzie!"

"Nice to meet you Izzie! I am Jim!"

Both Meredith and Derek saw the way that Jim had started to look at her, since they introduced themselves to each other. Lucky, in a way, for Izzie, Burke was passing by them when he saw her there.

"Stevens, I remember you that you are my intern today, not Dr. Shepherd's!"

Izzie sighed and left them right away.

"Is something wrong Dr. Burke?" Derek tried to see if he find out what is happening with him.

"Everything it would be wonderful if you and your interns would not stop my interns from work!" and saying that he left.

Jim was obviously drooling after Izzie, judging by the way he was looking after her. Meredith laughed and lifted up his jaw "She is taken!"

"So? Is she married?"

"No, but she is…"

"Then she is not taken"

"She is Alex's girlfriend, so step back!"

Jim turned his view to Meredith "She is?! Why? What does he have and I don't?"

Meredith continued to laugh and shrugged.

"Maybe is this town, with its rain! I should move here too!"

Meredith patted his shoulder, "It might be dangerous for you here, because if you may end drowned in the Elliot Bay with your behavior."

Again, Jim put his arm around Meredith's shoulders, causing to Derek an angry look and to Meredith an innocent smile to Derek "I bet that you would be there to save me from drowning"

She grabbed his arm and removed it away from her "Don't be so sure of that, because I might me the one who will do it!"

"If you will do it, then I assure you that you will miss me later!"

"Maybe I will or maybe I won't! Do you want me to check?"

Jim laughed and shook his head "Not right away!"

"Ok then, let me work now!" she grabs the charts and starts walking "I will page you when I am done" was what she told to Derek.

"Sure"

Derek and Jim watched her walking away, and then, when she was far away from them, Jim looked at Derek smiling "Are you jealous?"

His gall to ask him made Derek very mad "Do I have any reason to be?"

"Maybe! She is my favorite girl and if you will hurt her, then you will have a reason to be jealous for!"

This time Derek faked a smiled and turned around to leave "Then I am not jealous!"

"He is so jealous!" Jim was smiling satisfied after what Derek left. His eyes spotted Alex not very far away from him.

"Alex!" he shouted to make Alex hear him.

"Hey dude!"

"Do you want to join me for a coffee?"

"Sure, I have some time, so we can go!"

Both of them took a sit on a table in cafeteria.

"I met your girlfriend!" Jim smirked at Alex.

Alex smiled proud at him and took a sip from his coffee "Are you jealous?"

"Hell I am! First you took Meredith away from me and now you are bragging with your blonde girlfriend! You are such a bastard Alex!"

Alex laughed very satisfied by Jim's complaining tone "I am less bastard than you and this is why I got Meredith in the first place"

"Now that we are talking about Meredith… how is serious is her relationship with Shepherd?"

Jim never knew to stay quiet and keep a secret, so he asked this with a loud voice. Luckily, the cafeteria was crowded and too noisy so that anyone can hear what he had said.

Alex: "Please try not to start yelling about this around the entire hospital!"

Jim: "So is not just sex! Is Meredith inlove with him?"

Alex: "Yeah and badly"

Jim: "How about him? How seriously involved he is?"

Alex: "For his sake, I hope that he is very serious!"

Jim leaned back on his chair and sighed "I miss you guys!"

Alex: "I don't know about Meredith, but I miss you too!"

Jim: "oh…Mere misses me too, I am sure; she has always been in love with me"


	18. One night without each other

Meredith paged Derek when she finished with the charts and she waited for him at the nurse's station. Derek answered fast to her page, so soon he joined her and started to look together over those charts.

Derek was explaining to her something about one patient when Ellis stopped behind them.

"Dr. Shepherd!" she said.

Both, Derek and Meredith turned around to her; she was standing there serious as always.

"Dr. Webber!"

"Dr. Shepherd, does Dr. Grey have any work to do for you?"

Derek looked a little confused at Meredith and didn't know what he should say; in reality, their job was done, but he saw Meredith's panicked look like she was asking him to say yes.

"We were just checking some charts and we have one more patient to see!" this was all he could find as excuse.

"I would like to borrow Dr. Grey for a surgery if you don't mind. It is an emergent surgery and I need the best help in there."

She said 'the best help'. This shocked Derek a little and Meredith … Meredith was very shocked.

Derek thought that this might be a first step for them to improve the mother-daughter relationship and also to keep Meredith away from Jim as long as possible, so he smiled at both of them "You can have Dr. Grey! I can make the visit without her, and you need her help more."

"Thank you Dr. Shepherd! Dr. Grey, go and find Dr. Yang to inform you about this case we will meet in the OR in 20 minutes; I need to find one more intern!" and saying that she left.

Once that Ellie left, Meredith turned to Derek looking furious "Why did you do that? Couldn't have you said that you still have work for me?"

"Dr. Grey calm down!" he tried to encourage her "Did you hear what she said? She said that she needs the best help and she chose you!"

"I know, but… she is my mom and …" she let out a sigh of annoyance "I cannot believe that she actually said this! I wonder what is wrong with her!"

"There is nothing wrong with her; she knows that you are a great doctor and she sees you as one! Now go and find Yang!" he took the charts from counter and bent to her ear "I'll support you from gallery!" he told her giving her then a wink and turned around to leave.

This encouraged her a little, but she was still unable to feel great about this.

--------------------

Derek was walking to the OR where Ellis was performing the surgery, when he met with Alex and Jim. They were already dressed in street clothes and they were looking for Izzie and Meredith.

"Dr. Shepherd, have you seen Meredith?" Alex asked them when their ways crossed.

"She is in surgery with Dr. Webber! Ellis Webber!" he wanted to mention.

"She is? How? Wasn't she your intern today?"

"She was, but Dr. Webber asked her to scrub in with her and Yang! I know… it was unexpected for her too.

"Mere is in surgery with her mom?! Alex, I want to see this" Jim showed his excitement regarding this causing to Derek a big regret that he said it while he was present.

Alex didn't know for sure how Derek's feelings are about Jim, but he agreed to go with Jim to watch the surgery.

When all three of them arrived in gallery, as usual it was crowded; Izzie was already there, Dr. Brandt and the Chief and other various doctors.

"Hey Izz! We were waiting for you to come!" Alex took a seat in the second row near Izzie.

"Yeah… I was about to page and tell you!"

Jim took a sit near Alex and Derek stood in an opposed corner from them, but right near the window so that he and Meredith can see each other.

When Derek leaned on window, Meredith looked up and saw him; both of them gave each other a smile as 'hello' and then Meredith returned her attention to the surgery that had just begun.

During the surgery, because Izzie didn't have the chance to know what kind of person Jim is, she started to ask him different questions, such as:

"All three of you were good friends back in Boston?"

"Yup… me, Alex, Meredith and Scott" Jim smiled as he remembered all four of them "We were the coolest gang around there"

"Meredith was the only girl from your group?" Izzie continued her interrogatory, same as the others, without taking her eyes away from what was happening down in the OR.

"Yeah… Alex forced us to accept! He was doing something like …baby sitting, Alex?" he felt the need to tease Alex a little.

For his little joke, Alex offered him a hard slap over his back "If I wouldn't have brought Meredith, then you would still be in there trying to graduate."

"You're jealous Alex, because she was helping me and you were left on your own"

"This, because I didn't need her help to pass the exams like you… I was doing very well on my own"

"Is it true Dr. Martin? Did you cheat a lot to become a doctor?" Dr. Brandt, who was standing right behind him, asked him.

Now it was Alex's chance to pay Jim back for his little joke from earlier "Let's say …100"

"Shut up Alex! She helped with some exams and this just because I was too lazy to study, but I did get out from the Med School with some knowledge from there and now, Dr. Brandt can confirm that I am a pretty good doctor."

He looked back at his attending for confirmation, but Dr. Brandt ignored him. Jim returned his attention back down at Meredith and let out a sigh.

"I really miss you guys! Did I tell you already?"

Alex rolled his eyes with annoyance "yes you did… 2 times at least"

"I know what we are going to tonight…" he looked at Alex smirking "we are going to play poker"

Alex laughed and shook his head "In this case let me warn you that you will not have the chance to see not even an inch from Meredith's skin"

"Don't tell me…" Jim glared him angry and Alex smirked at him nodding "…. I can't believe it… how could you? You taught her to play poker!"

"And she is very good, so you might be the one who will dance naked for us tonight!"

"You guys have really dirty minds!" Izzie didn't look at them not even for a second since they were there, but she did listen what they where talking about

"Hey! Can you blame me? All the time I had to be grateful just seeing from time to time one of her bra's brace!" he let out a sigh "She is the only woman I've ever wanted but I never had"

During their chat, Derek was listening everything they were saying about Meredith. Jim's last statement in particular made him so angry that he was ready to make him shut up. But someone else did it for him.

"Could you please stop? This is my daughter that you are talking about!" Richard snapped at them.

That caused a complete silence in gallery and their attention was entirely focused on surgery.

Jim's confessions were making Derek to feel bad; but what was really killing him, was the fact that since Meredith gave him the first smile, the rest of her glances were for Jim and just for Jim. Derek felt himself forgotten by her …and this was very painful.

The surgery ended after two hours and some of the audience to go down and to congratulate and talk to them. Between those persons was Derek too, but contrary to the others he wasn't able to congratulate his girlfriend as the others were doing and he also couldn't tell her goodbye how he was wishing. All that he received from her that night before breakup was just a smile.

He watched her leaving with her friends, and he felt that he could not go on like this, hiding and pretending that he is fine with this kind of relationship. When she was out of his sight, Derek rubbed his face with frustration and left to change his clothes so that he can go home too.

Later that night, Derek was standing in his bed and his thoughts about Meredith were keeping him up. He was exhausted, but the thought that Meredith might be playing stripping poker with her former best friend Jim right in that moment, was forcing his brain to stay awake.

He wanted to hear her voice hoping that after what he would have heard it he will feel better, so he picked up his phone and dialed her number. After a several rings, he finally heard someone at the other end of the line.

"_yes"_ but the sleepy, annoyed and man sounding-like voice it was definitely not Meredith's and it didn't seem like Alex's either.

In the moment, Derek's heart stopped and caused him even more angry and nervous that he already was.

He made an effort to pull himself together and to recover his voice "Is Meredith there?" but in the second that he put that question he wished he would not have done it.

After a short pause, Jim's sleepy voice, because he was indeed the one that answered on phone, was heard again _"No! Who is asking?"_

Derek did not want to answer that question, so he asked the next one "Can I talk to her?"

Another pause, this time a little longer than the previous one, and Jim answered _"Dr. Shepherd?"_ he must have looked at the id and this is why it took him so long to answer.

"Can I talk to her?" he just repeated the question.

"_Who are you talking to, Jim?"_ in that moment Alex's voice was heard.

"_Someone insists to talk to Mere… I think it is her secret lover"_ and answered annoyed.

"_Dr. Shepherd?"_ Alex seemed to have taken Meredith's phone.

"Alex, do you think there is any chance to talk to Meredith?"

"_She is sleeping now… but if you want me I'll wake her up"_

Derek knew that he was behaving selfish in that moment, but he really was feeling the need to hear her voice. "Please do!"

"_Ok; hold on a second to go to her room"_

Derek heard his footsteps opening a door and then waking her up.

"_Mere! Wake up!"_ Alex was whispering to her.

Hearing him how Alex was trying to wake Meredith up, Derek felt instantly bad for asking this.

"_Who is it?"_ Meredith asked Alex with a very sleepy voice.

"_Your McDreamy"_

After a groan, Meredith took the phone from Alex _"Hi!"_

Now Derek was feeling really guilty because he had waken her up "Hi!... I'm sorry for waking you up… I just wanted to… I am sorry I should have not wake you up…Go back to sleep"

"_Derek Shepherd is rambling?" _ Meredith asked amused

When he heard that she was not angry on him, Derek felt much better.

"_Is everything ok? Is Doc ok?"_

"Yeah… we just miss you and we cannot sleep without you"

Meredith started to laugh _"You are both big boys, so I think that you will manage to sleep one night without me"_

"We are trying, but we don't have anyone to cuddle."

"_Cuddle each other then"_ Meredith continued to laugh, but still sounding very sleepy.

"I guess we don't any choice! Good night Meredith!"

"_Good night Derek! And I miss you too!"_

Derek smiled and after what he heard her hanging up, he hung up his phone too and closed his eyes satisfied, without questioning himself anymore about what was Meredith's phone doing in Jim's room.

------------

At Meredith's house that night, everyone was too tired to party, drink or have any fun at all. Meredith offered to Jim, Alex's room to sleep in and she and Alex joined him in there for a short flash back to their time together in Boston.

Alex was going to his room, when passing by Jim's he heard him saying Derek's name; he knew that this must not be right, so he went in to see what was going on. He then saw Meredith's phone at Jim's ear and obviously talking with Derek.

Alex took the phone from Jim and went to wake up Meredith; when Derek told him to wake her up, he knew that something was wrong with him and that he did not like at all the fact that Jim was the one who answered at Meredith's phone. After a few nudges and groans, Alex managed to wake her up and to put the phone at her ear and then he left her alone to talk to Derek in private.


	19. Make out with Derek

The next morning Meredith woke up very early and very refreshed; same as Alex, she knew that Derek might not be very thrilled with Jim's presence in her house so she thought that she has do something to make him feel better.

She took a fast shower, she pulled one a pair of jeans, a white top and a jacket, and then she headed downstairs to kitchen to take the key from her car, which had been left in there on table.

When she stepped in, she let out a gasp seeing Alex in there at that early hour. He was standing in front of the coffee machine resting his chin on the counter in front of it.

"Alex, what are you doing awake at this hour?"

"Hey Mere! I could not sleep and I am begging for this machine to give me the coffee faster"

Meredith took her key and went over to Alex to pat his back as encouragement.

"But what are you doing up and where are you going?"

"To take a walk"

Alex smiled suggestively at her "To walk a dog and its owner to be more precise, right?"

Meredith giggled and turned around to leave.

"He did not sound too happy last night when he called and Jim answered!"

Meredith looked back over her shoulder and smiled "That is why I am going!"

"Good luck then!"

"Thanks! I will see you at work!"

She got out of the house, unlocked the car, stepped in and drove away to the park where usually Derek was walking Doc.

---------------------

When she got there, she pulled the car into a parking spot and got out of it. She stepped in and started to look around to see if she can see them; it was still too early and she knew that Derek might be there later, so she just started to walk around.

After a few minutes she took a sit on a bench a little worried that Derek might not come or that she might not find them. Her mind ran away soon on the previous evening when Ellis asked Derek to let her scrub in, because she needs the best help. Meredith could not help herself not to smile a little when she remembered that. For the first time, her mother said something nice about her.

Meredith's daze was soon interrupted by a dog's bark in front of her. When she stepped back to reality, Meredith bent down to it.

"Doc! I missed you boy!" she had started to play and to cuddle his head and ears. Meredith noticed that Doc was alone again, same as he was when they first met "Did you ran again from your master Doc?"

Doc started to wobble and to lick her hands happy.

"Naughty dog!" Meredith continued with her play very amused by the way that Doc was licking her.

"So this is why you run again; you felt her near!" Derek was approaching them smiling.

Meredith stood up and lifted her arms so that she can receive a hug from him. Derek's mood was obviously a better one than the one from last night and it seem that Jim's presence in the same time had been forgotten, so he took her in his arms hugging her tight. He pulled her away just as he can cup her face to kiss her.

Meredith wrapped her arms around his neck smiling "Wow! You really have missed me!"

"Oh yeah… and badly!"

"I've missed you too…badly!"

"Good! This means that we have to do something to recover the missed time" he said as he was kissing her cheek, ear and neck.

"We can do something indeed!" and Derek gave her in that moment a dirty look, at which Meredith slapped his arm smiling "We can walk Doc! Because the last time I saw you was last night, but I haven't seen Doc for ages." And saying that she left Derek's arms and bent down to play again with Doc.

--------------

They took a tour of the park running after or by Doc, enjoying being together there in that morning. Then, they drove each in its car to Derek's apartment.

When they parked the cars in front of the building, Derek came and helped Meredith to get out and took her by hand to lead her inside.

"Can I offer you a coffee and breakfast?"

"I love your coffee and your breakfast!" she lifted herself up on her toes so that she can kiss him.

"And I love to serve you!" Derek took her by waist and walked inside the building together.

---------------------

When they stepped in the apartment, Mark was no longer in there; Doc ran to his water bowl to appease the thirst, while Derek and Meredith went to kitchen.

Derek invited Meredith to take a sit on table and to wait for him to prepare something.

"So… how was the party last night?" Derek asked her a little hesitant.

Meredith knew that he was jealous on Jim and extremely curious to find out what happened, especially because Jim was the one who answered at her phone when Derek called.

"Seriously, at that hour, after a surgery and a very long and exhausting day, do you think that any of us could have handled a party?"

"I thought that you will have many things to catch up after such a long time"

Meredith gave him a smile "We just had a small chat and then each of us went to bed"

"I am sorry that I woke you up!"

"I don't be; I am glad that you called, because I did not have the chance to tell you good night!"

Derek looked back at her smiling satisfied to hear that. Meredith stood up from her chair and went over to Derek, putting her arms around him "I know that you hate Jim! And I am sorry for the trouble that he causes!"

Derek turned around and took her in his arms, moving her hair away from face and giving her a quick kiss on lips "I hate him indeed and I cannot wait to see him leaving"

"What if he will decide to move here?" Meredith felt the need to teas him a little.

"What?" Derek snapped angry "In this case I am expecting you to respect your threat and drown him in the Elliot Bay."

Meredith laughed and put her arms around his neck moving her face closer to his "Why it has to be me the one who does the dirty work?"

"I'll help you, just to get rid of him!" Derek pulled her tight to him and pressed hard on lips kissing her. As they were sharing a very passional kiss, Derek slid a hand under her blouse and the other one on her lower back and Meredith could feel how turned on he was.

"Do you want to skip the breakfast?" she asked him when she pulled back a little for some air.

Derek got a huge smile on his face "I promise I will make it up to you with the breakfast…without cold sandwiches"

Meredith removed his hands from her and took one of it turning around to leave "Then let's find a more comfortable place"

Derek followed her and before to go out from kitchen, he looked back at Doc who was sleeping in there into a corner "Excuse us for a second Doc! We'll be right back!"

When he heard his master's voice, Doc opened his eyes and looked up at him, but immediately he closed them back.

"What do you mean by 'we'll be right back'? I am disappointed Derek!"

"I was just saying! I didn't mean it!"

As they got in Derek's bedroom and he closed the door, Meredith started to remove her clothes from her while Derek was taking off his. Meredith had left just her panties on, which made Derek a little frustrated, so he pulled her to him and started to slid his hands under them to remove it "I think you forgot this!" he told her whispering in her ear.

"I forgot them purposely!" Meredith smiled and helped him to remove them.

Derek laid her down on bed and placed himself on top of her "Naughty girl Meredith!" and his lips started to travel all around her face and neck, nipping the skin from place to place while his hands squeezing her breasts.

Every kiss, every suck and every squeeze where making Meredith to moan his name and to pull him closer to her thighs. His hot breath and hot mouth were driving her crazy and were making her feel like she cannot control herself.

He tasted her breasts heartily and sucking her nipples, feeling in that moment her body vibrating under him and hearing his name coming shaky out of her mouth. Derek covered her mouth again with his, so that she can make her save her voice and he let his hand going from her breast down to her inner thighs placing it between them and making them to pull apart so that he get between them. He had just lifted her thighs up and he was about to get in, when Meredith took his head with both hands and looked at him.

"Derek, I don't want to have a baby right now!"

Derek smiled and gave her kiss, "I don't want one either right now, but I don't find this the right moment to talk about this" and he returned to her neck.

Meredith rolled her eyes and lifted his face again "Use a condom Derek!"

"Oh yeah!" he reach over to his nightstand and took out from drawer a condom.

With one precise move, he put it on and then he returned to Meredith resuming his action from her breasts up to her neck and face.

With each of his thrust, Meredith was digging deeper and deeper in Derek's back and shoulders gasping his name each time and begging him to go faster. In that moment, Derek did not perceive the pain caused by Meredith's nails contrariwise, he was feeling encouraged to go deeper inside of her.

When the first orgasm hit them collapsed his head near her, as hers was reaching over his shoulder with her fingers through his hair grabbing it and pulling on it hard.

It took them a few minutes to recover their breath and their power and to feel their minds clear again. Just when all their senses returned to normal, Derek pulled out of her and laid back. Meredith rolled over on top of him to giving a well-deserved 'thank you' kiss.

"I think we should sleep more often each one in its house" she told him teasing.

"What? No way, if you want this to be repeated then you just have to tell me, but please don't you ever let me sleep alone!"

Meredith answered him with a giggle and a deep pressed kiss on his lips "It seems that we are still on time to get early to work" she said as she was looking at clock.

"We might have time to grab something too, so here is what we are going to do: you take a shower while I finish the breakfast and then I shower while you are eating it!"

That was indeed what they did and then drove to hospital in their own cars, also managing to arrive there in time.

During the same morning over Meredith's house.

Meredith had just left to park and Alex had just poured himself some coffee, when Jim walked in there sleepy.

"Morning" he took a sit on counter, where Alex was already sitting.

Alex stood up and went over to the coffee machine to pour some for Jim too and then he returned to his sit and put the cup in front of Jim.

"If it wouldn't have been the rain, I would move here with you guys right away." Jim said as he took a sip from his coffee.

"Are you flying back today?"

Jim sighed and nodded "This evening! I am sorry that we did not have time to spend more time together"

"Especially to see Meredith playing poker, huh?" Alex smiled at him.

"Yeah, because I still don't believe you!"

"You should stop chasing her, Jim! She is taken and happy with Shepherd"

"Let me doubt about how happy she is with this guy, Alex"

"Why are you saying that?"

"How can she be happy with such a jealous guy? I mean seriously, to call her at that hour and to wake her up even if he knew that she was exhausted?!"

Alex shook his head "He had all the reasons to be jealous, considering all the things that you said about Meredith last night in gallery. To tell while he was there, how Meredith is the only woman you wanted but you never had it?!"

Jim grinned at him "That must have been killed him, isn't it?"

"You said it in purpose to make him jealous?"

"No; I really meant what I said, but now that I know how much this makes him suffer, wait and see what I am going to do!" he smirked dirty at Alex.

"You do that, but I am warning you that Meredith won't be happy at all!"

"Oh… she will forgive as always!"

"I don't think that this time she will do it if you continue like this!"

"How come she is not awake yet?" Jim asked as he was looking at his watch.

"She has already left!"

"She has?"

Alex nodded and gave him a suggestive grin.

"Oh… to see her doctor"

"Exactly Jim… to see her boyfriend!"

"Whatever" Jim rolled his eyes annoyed "By the way, where is your girlfriend?"

"She has the day off today!"

"This means that I am not going to have the chance to see her before I go?"

Alex stood up and patted his back smiling "No you won't!"

"Wow, you are jealous too!" Jim laughed "You and the doctor are really scared that I might steal your girlfriends, aren't you?"

"No Jim, we are not is just that we don't like to see our girlfriends harassed by you!"


	20. Goodbye Jim

All her friends, including Jim too, were in locker room when Meredith stepped in with a smile on her face that was radiating.

"Morning everyone!" she greeted them as she was heading to her locker and receiving back some suggestive smiles, from Alex and Christina, a confused one from George and a hug from Jim.

He had caught her right before she could get to her locker and pulled into his arms "You are happy to see me right?"

Meredith giggled and pushed him away "Exactly; I am happy to see you leaving today!" she turned around to open the locker.

"What if I would tell you that I am going to move here?" he leaned on the locker next to her.

Meredith gave him just a look smiling "I would be less happy, but still happy to know that you will not resist here too long"

"Damn it you know me too well! But at least now I am going to have the chance to see some skin from you!" he said smiling and sliding a finger under her top.

Meredith slapped his hand "If I will put you to sleep before I take my clothes off, then you won't see anything"

Right in that moment the door opened and Dr. Brandt came in "Dr. Martin, are you ready?"

"Yes Dr. Brandt!"

"Let's go and find Dr. Shepherd then!"

Jim leaned to her before leaving "Do you want me to salute him for you Meredith?"

Meredith smiled wide at him and approached his ear "You don't need to! I have already done it"

Jim just left and went outside after his attendant.

"Meredith, you just tell me something or motion me and I will smash his pretty face and I will be damn if I won't become a plastic surgeon just using my fists" Christina burst out when she saw Jim out from there.

"Nah… save your hands; he does not worth to ruin them on him; he is just Jim!"

"Wow, but you really are into a good spirit! I bet that you had an amazing walk this morning" Alex smirked at her.

Meredith just giggled and turned around to close her locker "Let's go and find Bailey!"

The assignments for that day were Alex with Shepherd, Meredith writing the discharges, Christina with Burke and George shadowing Bailey.

-----------------------

Alex could not help himself not to laugh and imagine what could Meredith did to him earlier that day, when he spotted Derek on hallway spreading smiles all around him.

"Morning Dr. Karev!" he greeted him in the same cheerful manner as he did with the others.

"Good morning Dr. Shepherd, I am your intern today"

"Have you seen that friend of yours… Dr. Martin?"

"Dr. Brandt called him earlier to go and look for you!"

"I'll ask a nurse to find him!"

He went over to the nurses' station and asked one of the nurses to look for Dr. Brandt and Dr. Martin, and the nurse nodded and went to find them.

"Dr. Shepherd, may I have a word with you outside the work?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"It is about Jim"

Derek smiled wide at him "Your lovely friend, yes… what about him?"

"He likes to tease and to harass Meredith, so I am telling to be prepared for a new round today"

"I am ready Dr. Karev, don't worry! I am ready!" and his smile was confirming this.

Right in that moment, they saw Jim and Dr. Brandt coming towards to them.

"Dr. Brandt, Dr. Martin Good morning!" Derek greeted them into a very cheerful manner.

"Good morning Dr. Shepherd!" Dr. Brandt was the only one who greeted him back.

"Let's go and make one last visit to Mrs. Meyer before surgery" Derek led them to see their patient.

Alex and Jim remained somewhere behind them.

"What happened to him?" Jim was looking suspicious at Derek.

"He received a visit this morning from his girlfriend, remember?" Alex smirked at him.

"Oh… Damn it, she must be good if she brought him in this mood"

Alex found a new opportunity to tease him "He is one lucky man to have her as girlfriend"

Jim faked a smile at him "Funny!"

"Just try to keep your mouth shut into the OR; it is not necessary for the rest of the hospital to find out details from our years in the Med School."

"Doctors, I thought that you had enough time to catch up the memories last night!" Derek looked back at them smiling "Now would you please join us?"

They got silent and hurried their walk to catch up them from behind.

-------------------

Because she wasn't that busy, Meredith went to gallery to watch their surgery. This time she kept her eyes on Derek and ignored Jim's glances. She arrived there in the middle of surgery and took a seat; the gallery wasn't crowded, so her appearance was immediately noticed by Derek.

When she saw the surgery was coming to an end, Meredith left the gallery. She knew that if she will go down to congratulate them, Derek would feel uncomfortable not to receive a proper salute from her. So, to avoid this, she left and returned to her work.

Soon after the end of surgery, Jim saw her writing something in a chart at the nurses' station. He approached her unnoticed, slipping a hand around her waist. Meredith jumped and looked at the person who touched her. When she saw Jim, she rolled her eyes smiling and returned her look to her chart.

"Are you ignoring me Meredith?"

"I am busy Jim!"

Jim looked into that chart and smiled "This is all that you have managed to do after the Med School?"

"You are funny Jim!"

"Hey, you were the brilliant student who now is filling the charts and I was the thickhead who has just saved a woman's life!" he smirked proud at her.

Meredith laughed and shook her head "Wow, was this the first life that you have saved so far? Or wait… you haven't even been the one who did it… Dr. Shepherd and Dr. Brandt did it!"

"You are jealous"

"Sure"

"Then have lunch with me! I have just a few hours left here and I want to spend them with you"

Meredith looked at him smiling and took a few moments to think at his proposal.

"Okay, let's go, but please behave yourself!" Meredith put the chart back on counter and followed him.

Both of them stepped in patio and went to by the food.

"Please allow me to buy you the lunch!" Jim took out his wallet and paid for their food and then each of them took their trays and set down on a free table.

After a few more minutes of bragging about how he saved a life while Meredith was just filling charts, Jim ended it and moved to another topic.

"When are you going to tell your mom about you and you know who?" Jim asked, this time in a serious manner.

"I don't know, it's not like I am going to tell her 'mom, I'm dating Alex' for example! It will be really bad when she will find out who am I dating with!"

"Or you are not telling her because you don't believe that this isn't serious enough to worth the risk?"

Meredith leaned her back on chair and opened her casserole with salad avoiding looking at him.

"You know Meredith, sometimes the silence says more than thousands words!"

Meredith looked up at him "It does worth, but it is too great to lose it so fast, because once that I will tell my mom about us, this will end up immediately!"

"And you don't want to end it!"

Meredith looked down to her food and shook her head.

Jim let out a sigh and reached over the table to take Meredith's hand "He is a lucky man! God how I hate him for this!" he said smiling at her.

Meredith smiled too and leaned over the table "Maybe you will get lucky too one day!"

"Do you mean that I can still hope for you to come to me?" he asked her with a smirk on his face.

Meredith shook her head laughing "Just in your dreams! I was referring to another woman."

"Then be sure that you will be in my dreams every night!" he was continuing to smile suggestively at her, while Meredith was disapproving with her head his nerve.

Jim lifted her hand in his and squeezed it "You know Mer that you can count on me if anything goes wrong; you're a great doctor and I am sure that in L.A. everyone would be thrilled to work with you!"

"Thank you Jim and don't take it as an offense, but I hope it won't be necessary!"

Jim nodded smiling and squeezing harder her hand "I hope so too Mer!"

-----------------------

Because had finished with the discharges, after lunch, Meredith went to find Bailey. She thought that she might find her on the surgical floor so she took the elevator and pressed the 3rd floor. After just one floor, the door opened and Derek came into the elevator, where just he and Meredith were present. His smile from this morning was now missing from his face and his reaction at Meredith's presence in the same elevator was cold too.

"Hey!" Meredith saluted him, noticing in the same time that something was wrong with him. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah" but his answer was cold and his attitude cold.

"Derek, what is wrong?"

"Nothing… it is just that I tried to eat something at lunch, but something made me feel sick to my stomach. But I bet that you had a pleasant lunch!"

In that moment, Meredith understood what was going on. He had seen her in patio with Jim.

"Derek, it was just a lunch!"

Derek kept his back at Meredith and the look ahead "Sure"

"Derek!" in that moment the door opened at her floor, but she refused to get out and pressed the button to close the door faster.

"That was your floor Dr. Grey!"

"Not anymore! Derek, talk to me!" but at the next floor the door opened again and Derek went out.

Meredith followed him closely and after she made sure that none sees them, she opened an on-call room and this time she was the one who pushed him inside.

"What do you think you are doing?" Derek protested when he saw himself dragged in there "I am your boss!"

"No Derek, in this moment, in this room you are my boyfriend!"

"So from time to time I am your boyfriend? Earlier it was that Jim and now you are back to me!"

"Derek you are still jealous? I thought that I proved you this morning that you have no reason to be!"

"You did prove me, but earlier you contradicted yourself! What can I say Meredith… I enjoyed watching how he was holding your hand and how you were laughing at his jokes, which… from what I have noticed are very hmm… let's say… very decent!" Derek laughed with bitterly.

Meredith hung on his neck with both arms and reached for his mouth. She kissed his closed mouth, which was refusing to accept her, but she did not give up and continued to taste it gently. Because Derek continued to remain cold at her intention to prove him that he was wrong, Meredith let go his neck and pulled apart.

"Derek, I know that it is hard to believe but he didn't make any joke and he was surprisingly serious; we wanted to have a last talk… he will leave in just a few hours."

"A few hours are not soon enough if you ask me!"

"I know!"

Derek took a seat on bed resting his head in hands; Meredith followed him and stood down too next to him resting her head on his shoulder. Derek lifted his arm and put it around her, kissing her forehead and pulling her to him. This time he was the one who brought her face to him to kiss her. He laid her down without his mouth to leave hers while his hand was smoothing her hair. He was indeed jealous, madly jealous and he didn't want to know another man touching what was belonging to him.

With the passion from her kiss and gentle moves through his hair, Meredith was showing him that he should not have worries like this.

"_Beep, beep"_ the sound of a pager pulled them apart. Both checked their pagers and Meredith was the one who let out a groan.

"911 down in pit!" she told him as she stood up and straightened her clothes and the hair that Derek's hands had tousled.

Derek stood up on the bed's edge watching her hurry to get ready to leave.

Meredith bent to him and cupping his face she pressed a hard kiss on his lips; she would have wanted to go on with that kiss, but she knew that more was about to come after work.

"I am waiting you at my apartment tonight!"

"I'll be there!" and saying she took a deep breath and opened the door to leave.

Because it was a 911 Meredith started to run on hallway to get down in pit faster running this way into her mother.

"Hey, take it easy!" Ellis stopped her and she was obviously into an unusual good mood.

"It's a 911 so I have to run!" Meredith tried to get rid of her faster so she started to walk again.

"Ok, I am expecting you tonight at dinner! Be there around 8!"

Ellis's words made Meredith to stop and to turn back to her shocked "What…why?"

"Meredith, I don't think that I need a reason to invite my daughter to dinner! So try to be there around 8" and saying that Ellis left to her work, leaving Meredith in daze.

A second call on her pager, brought Meredith back from trance and made her hurry again.

-----------------------

"Hey Mer!"

"Hey Alex!"

Alex came down to pit, where Meredith was stitching a man's arm at that moment.

"Are you busy?" he asked her.

"No, I am almost done! Why?"

"Jim is leaving and he wants to say goodbye!"

"He is finally leaving!" Meredith smiled at him.

"He caused you some troubles with McDreamy, didn't he!"

"Yeah… in a way!"

Meredith finished with the suture and after she placed a plaster over the wound, she let the patient to go and followed Alex upstairs to neurology, where Jim was waiting for them.

"Something weird happened earlier!" she started to confess him while they were in elevator.

"What?"

"My mom invited me to dinner tonight!"

Alex looked at her with the same surprised look as Meredith's when she heard her mother's invitation. "She did?"

"It's weird, isn't it?"

"I don't want to worry you but… yeah it is! This is the first invitation that she made since you are here, right?"

"Yes!"

"Are you going?" he asked her.

"She didn't leave me any choice so…" she took a deep breath and turned her face to doors.

"What can I say… good luck!" and patted friendly her back.

Meredith smiled back at his encouragement "Thanks!"

They found Jim, Derek and Dr. Brandt talking at the nurse's station. When Jim saw them coming, left the group and went toward to greet them.

"Hey Mer!" he took her in his arms and gave her a hug "I am leaving baby!" he said in with a faked crying tone as he was cupping her face into his palms.

Meredith responded him also into a fake manner and smiling "Don't make me cry!"

Jim laughed and brought her face closer to him bending to her ear "of happiness?"

Meredith laughed and took his hands away from her face.

"It was nice to see both of you again and I hope that we will meet again soon!" Jim let Meredith go and took Alex for a hug patting in the same time his back "Take care of you and of her!"

"You can be sure of this!" Alex patted his back too.

Jim let Alex go and returned to Meredith, pulling her into his arms again and suddenly he started to kiss her.

Taking her by surprise with that kiss, Meredith didn't know how to react and by the time that she realized what was happening, Jim pulled himself away from her smiling and approached her ear again "Don't forget what I told you earlier!"

Meredith just nodded, still in shock after his gesture and Jim let her go, smiling satisfied at Derek.

Derek watched him with disgust and he hardly controlled himself not to smash his evil smile. He knew that the Jim nightmare was about to end, so he took a deep breath and shook his head.

They all said goodbye one from each other and then Alex and Meredith stood there watching them leaving, while Derek was staying somewhere a little behind them.

"Thank God his gone!" Alex sighed with relief when he saw them stepping inside the elevator.

"Oh yeah!" Meredith repeated Alex's tone.

"I don't think that I have ever seen someone so happy that his best friend is leaving" Derek smiled when he saw their relief.

They turned around to him smiling.

"Correction! He used to be our best friend!" Alex corrected him.

"It is nice to see him… once per year!" Meredith also smiled at Derek.

"I'll go check Mrs. Meyer's stat!" Alex looked at Derek, patting in the same time Meredith's back "Good luck with that in case I won't see you by the end of the shift!"

"Thanks!"

Alex left them alone, each of them carrying a content smile on their faces while they were walking, forgetting for a moment that they are in public.

"What did he wish you good luck for?" Derek asked her as they started to walk away.

"Oh…" Meredith stopped from her track and gave him a nervous look accompanied by a series of bites over her lower lip.

Derek saw her stopping and turned around to see that her smile had gone away and not it was replaced with her habit. He loved her habit, but just when it was coming with a cheeky look on her face, not when she was looking worried, like she was now.


	21. Dinner

"What happened?"

"My mom invited me to dinner tonight!"

"Why?" same as her and Alex, Derek was surprised to hear this, not as shocked as them but it did surprise him.

"I am asking myself the same thing!"

Derek started to walk and motioned her to follow him. When he saw the elevator's door opening and the last passengers coming out from it, he ran to stop the doors and motioned Meredith to hurry.

They both stepped inside and when the door closed, Derek turned to Meredith "Do you think that she suspects anything?"

Meredith didn't think at this not even for a second, but now that she heard Derek asking her this, her heart stopped and the panic made her face to look frighten. But this state of horror lasted just for a few moments, because soon the image on her mother's good mood dissipated it.

"No, her mood was too good; if this would be the reason then she should have killed me instead of inviting me for dinner! She said that she doesn't need a reason to invite her daughter to dinner!"

"Will you go?"

"I don't think that I have any choice!"

Derek put an arm around her waist and gave her a smile "If you are too scared to go alone, I can come with you!"

Meredith took his arm away from her "Please Derek, don't start!"

Derek stepped back a little, not before to give her a quick his on forehead "Okay! The last thing that I want right now is to fight with you again… as much as I love our make ups, I prefer to have them without a fight before!" he smiled suggestively at her.

"This means that I am still invited to visit you tonight?" Meredith responded him with the same type of smile.

In that moment, Derek pressed the emergency button with one hand and stopped the elevator, while with the other he pulled Meredith to him, both of them starting a kissing session. It didn't last long, because they knew that some other people need the elevator, so they pulled apart consoled by the thought that they will recover this later tonight.

Derek let the elevator go and soon the door opened "Good luck!" he told her when she stepped outside.

Meredith just smiled back and looked at him until the door closed and hided him behind it.

------------------------

She was having two more hours before the shift to end and three hours until the mysterious dinner that her weird mother had planned for them, and all the duties that Bailey had charged her with were done, so she went to find her again and see what else does she has for her.

Meredith found Bailey talking to a patient's relative so she waited for her to finish. When she saw her turning around to leave, Meredith ran to her.

"Dr. Bailey!"

Bailey stopped and looked at her "Is all the work done Grey?"

"Yes Dr. Bailey!"

Bailey gave her a weird look with an even weirder smile "Very efficient!"

Meredith looked at her confused, not knowing if she should take that as a compliment or as an irony.

"Go and make yourself useful down in pit! Yang is there too!"

"Yes Dr. Bailey!" and she turned around fast to leave, to avoid any eventual comment of hers.

------------------------

Down in pit, Meredith saw Christina yelling to a nurse for something that she asked to bring her and the nurse didn't do it. When she saw Meredith, Christina asked the nurse to leave and came towards bringing a smile on face with her.

"Hi Meredith!"

"What is wrong with you people today?"

"What happened?"

"This is what I am trying to find out; first it was my mother, then it was Burke and now you! Why are the most frowned people of the last month are smiling today?"

"Thanks Meredith!" Christina smiled sarcastic at her.

"Are you going to tell me what happened today? Oh wait…" and she started to smirk at her "I know why you and Burke are smiling, but what happened with Ellis?"

Christina shrugged and took a seat on an empty bed, stretching her arms. Meredith set down next to her looking at her smiling "She was not in the on-call room with you two, was she?"

At Meredith's question, Christina raised her look from ground to her giving her a look as if she was having a psycho next to her. "You have a dirty mind Meredith!"

"Sorry!" Meredith giggled and immediately after she took a grimaced face "Eww… she had sex…Eww!" she was shaking her body to take out of her mind this thought.

"What is wrong with you?" Christina asked her annoyed when she saw all the craps that Meredith was saying.

Meredith stopped and looked at her serious "She invited me to dinner!"

"So?"

Christina was the only person who was not surprised by Ellis's invitation.

"Christina, my mom is happy, the other day she complimented me for my work, today she invited me to dinner…" her words stopped on tongue and Meredith looked panicked at her "OMG!"

"What?"

"What if she has an incurable disease and she is dying?"

Christina looked at her and didn't know what to tell her. She was not sure if this it would be a good or a bad news for Meredith.

"She does not look ill" was the only thing she could find to tell her.

"No, she doesn't but…no!" Meredith shook her head to get rid of that thought "This would have not changed her and … maybe this just a phase and soon she will become the same witch we all know!... Yeah… it's just a phase… you are right she does not look ill!"

Christina was a little surprised to see Meredith so worried for her mother. She patted her leg "It's just a phase!"

Meredith found more reasonable the faze thing than a potential disease, so she recovered her calm and gave Christina a smirk. "So you and your lover are back together, huh?"

"He is not my lover!"

"He is not?"

"No, he is my… my sex partner… that's all!"

"Sure! If you say so!"

"You know what? I don't need to hear a discourse from the intern who is secretly dating with her boss in her parents' hospital!"

Meredith faked a smile and dropped the subject. "So… you don't find anything weird in my mom's invitation!"

"No… as you said… she has a sex life so be happy for her because this way you might get to know your mother better!"

"Sometimes the sex can do miracles, isn't it?"

"Yeah" Christina admitted smiling and looking ahead.

The rest of the shift was not that stressful and busy, so Meredith ended it in time and left home to take a shower and put some clean clothes on her. Even if her mother seemed nicer now, she did not trust too much in it and she wanted to avoid a speech about her hygiene.

-----------------------

With a few minutes before eight o'clock she pulled the car in front of her mother's house. She saw the lights on, so she took a deep breath and opened the door to step outside from car. After a few moments of pacing at their door, a neighbor passed by the front of the house and stopped looking at her a little strange. When Meredith saw that lady staring at her, she faked a smiled and immediately knocked at door.

The door opened after just a few seconds and Richard appeared in the doorway.

"Meredith, hi! Come on in!"

"Hi Richard!"

Meredith stepped inside and let herself leaded inside by Richard, while she was studying the surroundings. She had not been in their house for over 10 years; she was back in Seattle for 4 months now, but this was her first visit to her mother's house.

Richard leaded her in dinning room, where he was setting the table. The atmosphere was the same solemn one that she knew with everything at its place and many of the objects from house looking useless and untouched.

Meredith took of her jacket and placed it on the chair's backrest.

"Richard, my mom cooks?" She asked a little surprise to hear Ellis in kitchen.

"No, we ordered the food!" Richard smiled and returned to his previous duty, to set the table.

"Good evening Meredith!" Ellis came in holding a big bowl. Her voice tone and her look were the serious ones she knew, but the attitude was softer.

"Hi!" Meredith answered her a little unsure of what she should do and say.

"Come take a seat!" Ellis pointed to a chair "The dinner is ready!"

Richard helped Ellis to take a seat on the opposite side of table from Meredith, and then he took his seat above the salt. He was also the one who served them the soup.

The first minutes from dinner were awkwardly quiet, Meredith was trying to keep her mind clear, and in alert to any potential conversation, that Ellis or Richard would start.

"What do you think about your first months as doctor so far?" Richard was the one who tried to build a conversation, even if he was doing it with a banal question.

"Hard! I knew that this field it is not easy, but I was not expecting to be that hard! But I like it!"

"The surgery is a hardcore, not everyone is born for this. Only those who will pass from the first year can start consider themselves surgeons even if they won't be for real yet." Ellis added as an answer to Meredith's answer.

"I know! And I think that I will be able to make it through the first year!"

"Meredith, think it is not a sure thing! You have to feel yourself capable, not to think that you can do it!" Ellis let the spoon down and looked serious at her daughter.

In that moment, Meredith recognized again the mother that she knew, cold and very strict when it comes about work.

"You did great so far, Meredith!" Richard wanted to encourage her and, in the same time, to prevent any tension that it could have been created after Ellis's tone.

"Thank you!" Meredith tried to respond him with a smile, even if she was already feeling uncomfortable.

"You can become a great surgeon in future if you will have confidence in everything that you have learned and you are learning here! Keep a strong personality and don't get pregnant."

When she heard her mother mentioning about that, Meredith's spoon froze at the entry to her mouth. She looked at each of them, but just Richard was giving her a small uncomfortable smile while Ellis was eating calm from her food, without even looking at her. Meredith returned from the shock produced by her mother's advice and stub the spoon in her mouth.

"Talking about pregnancy… are you dating anyone, Meredith Or you …?" this time Ellis put the question looking at her and paying attention to Meredith's reaction.

When she heard that, the knot from her throat stopped the soup to flow to esophagus and redirected its way to trachea causing her a big and violent cough.

"… have Alex only?" the continuance of the question came out just slipping out in a low tone and a little surprised by her reaction.

Richard handed Meredith a glass of water to calm down, while he and Ellis were looking at each other. Ellis raised her eyebrows like she knew the answer already.

"I'll take that as a 'yes' so, who is he?" she asked her.

Meredith's cough stopped and she wiped her mouth nervous hesitating to answer her.

"Do I know him?"

Meredith had started to shrug and to shake her head nervous "Maybe" she opened the mouth and let the answer to come out slow.

"Ellis please, leave her alone! It is obvious that she doesn't feel comfortable to talk about this!" Richard had noticed Meredith's discomfort.

"First, she should not feel uncomfortable to talk about these things with her mother"

At Ellis words, Meredith could not help herself not to feel angry on her_ "Now all of the sudden she wants a mother-daughter moment and to talk about my sex life! She must be kidding!"_ Meredith was watching her mother shocked, but also with anger imprinted on her face.

"And secondly…" Ellis continued her advices for Meredith "… you are a grown-woman now Meredith and I hope that you know how to choose a man. It's your life, you can date who ever you want to as long as he is not married, preferably without kids too and as I have said already… as long as you don't get pregnant because a baby is the last thing that you need right now!"

Meredith faked a smile and nodded at her "Sure mom! I'll take care!" _"you forgot to mention not to be my boss either"_ she smiled a little at her thought.

Meredith hurried to finish with the food, so in about an hour she was done with the dessert too. The discussion about Meredith's love life ended immediately after her assurance that she will take care of not getting to wrong man and the last part of the meeting continued with discussions about the surgeries performed lately at Seattle Grace, mainly between Richard and Ellis. This did not bother Meredith at all; contrariwise, she felt relief because this way her life was standing outside from Ellis's critics.

When everyone was done with the eating, Meredith stood up from table and excused herself, saying that she is tired and that the intern statue requires many sleep.

"Thank you for coming Meredith! Go home and sleep, we know how precious these sleeping hours are!" Richard leaded her to door and gave her a hug before going out.

"Good night Meredith!" Ellis saluted her into a very politely tone.

"Good night!" Meredith smiled back at them and then she headed to her car.

She heard the door closing before she could get to her car. She unlocked it and got in it, smiling amused at Richard's word _"We know how precious these sleeping hours are!"_ In that moment she was having her mind just at all the sleep that Derek will give her later that night and at the sleepless nights that she and Derek, her boss, had lately because of the sex.


	22. After dinner

Mark was already home, when Derek unlocked the door and stepping inside the apartment. He was laying along the couch buttoning bored the remote control in an attempt of finding something interesting to watch.

When he heard Derek coming in, Mark just lifted his head a little to see if he comes in alone "Hey! Where is your student?" he asked Derek smiling.

Derek was not in a very good mood, first because of the tiredness and then because of Meredith's refuse to tell her parents about their relationship. That is why he did not taste Mark's little joke.

Doc came out from his bedroom and greeted him barking and wobbling. When he saw him coming, Derek kneeled and started to play with him "Hello Doc, have you been a good boy? Let's go out for a walk!" he stood up and started to look around after Doc's leash trying to ignore Mark's comment.

Mark stood up in his sit rubbing his back neck, because of the pain caused by the uncomfortable position that he had stood in. "Did you two fight again?"

"No, we didn't!" Derek responded him annoyed, while he was searching under the pillows and Mark's jacket on couch for Doc's leash.

"Ok… but something is bothering you and lately only the things regarded Meredith are disturbing you so… what is the problem now?"

"She is having the dinner with her parents!"

"So?"

Derek found Doc's leash hided under the couch, so he took it and stood up going then to Doc to put it to him.

"Would you have wanted to take you with her?" Mark asked him, when he saw that Derek was not answering.

"I am taking Doc out for a walk!" He answered, turning his back on him and heading to door.

"Wait!" Mark stood up immediately, turned off the TV and grabbed his jacket "I am coming with you!"

"You are taking your relationship with Meredith in serious, aren't you?" Mark continued to ask questions while they were heading to exit, even if he saw that Derek was not in the mood to give answers.

"Yes I am, but it seems that I am the only one who does it!" Derek let out his frustration to come out as a shout.

Because they were just going out from elevator and there were some other neighbors outside on hallway, Derek calmed down and went straight outside with Mark after him.

Both of them walked for a few minutes in complete silence.

"I don't know what Meredith thinks about this relationship, but I am afraid she doesn't consider it serious!" Derek felt the need to talk with someone about his thought, so he spoke first.

"Maybe she is indeed scared of the reaction that her parents would have when they will find out! You know Derek… maybe you are not too scared about your career because… you don't have any reasons to be, but she has. Derek you are already a renowned surgeon, but she is just an intern right now and this can cause her many troubles."

"Mark, there is nothing legal that anyone can do to us for having a relationship and her relationship with her parents, especially with Ellis, it is already ruined. I cannot see how worse than this can be damaged."

"Legally no, there is nothing that anyone can do, but the other doctors and the medical staff will not see this as a fairytale and they might not judge you, but they will sure judge her!"

"And for how long do you think that we should hide this?"

"At least until she will finish her first year!" Mark's answer came natural, like that was the only option.

Derek shook his head with disappointment "I don't know if I can do this for so long!"

"Derek, if you really love her, then you will do it!"

They continued their walk without any other comment upon Derek's love life.

Their walk ended and they were about to enter the building, when Doc stopped dead in his track and started to bark behind him.

"Come on Doc, enough with the walk!" Derek was dragging him after him, without bothering to look behind them.

"Oh I don't think that he is requiring for more walk!" Mark stopped too and looked back smiling.

When Derek looked back, he saw Meredith getting out from her car and coming to them, so in that moment he let Doc go to her.

Doc stopped at Meredith's feet barking and wobbling happy to see her. Meredith kneeled down at him and started to play with him.

"You survived" Derek came to them carrying a smile on his face.

Meredith stood up and leaned on him to kiss him "I survived" she answered smiling as she was pulling apart from him. She grabbed Derek's hand and headed together again to the building's entrance, where Mark was waiting for them. Just when they got there, Meredith noticed Mark's presence.

"Good evening Meredith!" Mark greeted her as he was opening the door for her to go in.

"Hello Mark!"

When they stepped in apartment, Mark excused himself and left to take a bath, Doc drank some water from his bowl and then he laid down lazy next to it, and Derek took Meredith in his room.

Meredith took a seat on the bed's edge to take her shoes off, while Derek closed the door, took off his jacket and threw it on a chair. He then took a seat next to Meredith, resting his head in his hands.

"Are you alright?" She asked him while her fingers had started to brush his hair.

Derek raised his head to her and pulled her face for a soft kiss on lips and then he placed her head on his chest.

"How did it go?"

"Awkward… my mom playing a role that doesn't suit her!"

"But you survived!"

Meredith raised her head to look at him "I survived!"

Derek rubbed one of her cheeks with a comforting smile on his face "I am glad you survived!"

Meredith put her head back on him with the arms around his body "Me too!"

After a few minutes of cuddling each other in silence, Meredith pulled herself apart from him "She asked me if I am dating anyone!"

"And?"

"And I told her that I am dating someone! Guess what she told me!"

Derek continued to look into her eyes, while his hands where playing with her hair "What?"

"She told me that it is my choice who am I dating with, but to stay away from married men or from those who already have children!... Are you married or…" she wanted to continue, but she felt too embarrassed to ask him that so she stopped.

Derek smiled and shook his head "I am not married and I don't have any children… at least not from what I know!" he wanted to tease her.

Meredith knew that he was joking, but she still felt the need to punch him gently in his ribs for his joke.

"She also advised me not to get pregnant!"

"But you are not pregnant, aren't you?" Derek asked her calm, since he already knew the answer.

"Maybe" Now it was Meredith's turn to tease him.

"I was the one who made you the last tests remember? So you cannot tease me with this."

Meredith just smiled and leaned on him to kiss his lips. Derek laid her down and then himself over her, taking her mouth under his kisses.

"Your mom is not very strict regarding your love life!" Derek pulled his face away from hers and started to smooth her hair "She didn't mention anything about him not to be your boss too!" he smiled to her.

"Derek, please! She didn't mention anything, but I am sure that she forgot about this!"

"Meredith, we are not even dating… we are hiding. A dating is called when you can go out and show the world your girlfriend or apparently I am not allowed to do this!" Derek smiled and with that he wanted to put an end to this subject; his hand and his mouth started to travel along her face and body trying to enjoy every moment that he was spending with her.

All of the sudden, Derek stood up from her and from bed and headed to door.

"Where are you going?" Meredith asked him a little frustrated when she saw that he interrupted their prelude.

Derek looked back at her smiling "I am going to check if Mark is done with the bathroom!" he then smirked at her and went out.

After just a few moments, Derek returned to bedroom, where Meredith was laid in the same position that he had left her. He came to her and gave her the hand to go with him.

"The bathroom is available, so come with me!"

He led her to bathroom, where he had quickly prepared a bubble bath.

Derek took her by her waist and brought her closer to him, "I'm sorry I didn't make a romantic atmosphere too, but I thought that you could have one later in our bedroom" he whispered in her ear.

Meredith gave him a quick kiss and shut down the door behind them "It's perfect this way, but … is it safe?"

"What do you mean if it is safe? Of course it is!"

"No, I mean… your roommate …"

Derek started to laugh "Meredith, he is already in his room and trust me … we will have more intimacy here than over your house" he pulled her back to him and lifted her blouse up over the head and threw it down, moving then to her bra.

"Lock the door Derek!"

Derek was continuing to kiss her shoulders and to remove the rest of the textiles from her body "I will"

Soon both of them were resting together in bathtub, Meredith relaxing in Derek's arms and Derek relaxing with Meredith scent in his arms. Since he has met her, Derek fell in love with the lavender's perfume and each bath he was having with Meredith its scent was not missing.

Their quiet and relaxing moment ended when the door opened wide and Mark stepped in, undisturbed by their presence and their intimacy.

"Mark, what do you think you are doing?" Derek snapped at him immediately when he saw him coming in.

Meredith looked back at with a glare for not locking the door as she asked him.

"I forgot to brush my teeth!" Mark smiled and took his toothbrush and the toothpaste.

"And do you really have to do it now?" Derek asked him annoyed seeing him so unhurried.

"Yeah, but you can go on, I don't mind! Anyway, I cannot see anything because of the bubbles" he smirked at them as he leaned his back on sink and started to brush his teeth.

Derek knew that it was useless to ask him leave, so he buried his face annoyed in Meredith's hair, while Meredith shook her head smiling at Mark's face.

Mark spitted out the toothpaste and wiped his face with a face towel.

"You can continue now!" he smirked one more time at them before going out "Good night!"

Neither Derek nor Meredith responded him and they just waited for him to be out from there and to close the door. Once that the door was closed, Meredith turned around angry at Derek and slapped hard his arm.

"You locked the door huh?"

Derek started to laugh amused at her frowned face and cupped her face in his hands to kiss her. "It was only your fault!"

For that Meredith gave him one more glare at which Derek, once again he needed to kiss her "I got glued to your body!"

Meredith smiled shaking her head and turned around; she stepped out from the bathtub and took Derek's bathrobe.

"Come on Mer, because of Mark we have to end it?" Derek protested when he saw her leaving him alone in bathtub.

"Yes, so you can thank him!" Meredith smiled at him as she was wrapping the robe's cordon around her waist. She then threw him a towel and waited him to get out.

After a much-desired sex round, with the door locked of course, Meredith snuggled in his arms and fell asleep immediately. Derek held her with both arms close to him; his sleep refused to come immediately as it did for Meredith, even if he was exhausted. He was ready to give her time; how much? He couldn't say but he was hoping that it wouldn't be required too much.


	23. The moment of Truth

The weeks passed and nothing changed in their relationship. She was over his place or he was at her house in most of the nights. Derek decided to give up on Doc and gave him to the administrator, whose daughter and her family was living on a farm. As much as they loved him, Derek and Meredith knew that he would be happier there with more space than he would have been, locked into an apartment.

Ellis's weird mood from those last days, proved to be indeed just a phase.

The previous night, Derek and Meredith decided to sleep each of them at its house, since both of them needed some rest and they were not getting any if they were sharing the same roof.

Meredith woke up more rested in the morning and as usual, she took the breakfast with her friends, less with Derek.

Alex drove Izzie to hospital, while Christina drove Meredith and George. They got in time there, so they didn't hurry to change into their scrubs; Christina was the one who seemed to by hurried.

"Christina, where do you think you are going? We have to find Bailey first for our assignments!" Meredith stopped her, when Christina wanted to leave the locker room.

"Oh… I already know who am I going to work with today!"

"But you still have to wait for rounds"

"No, I don't!" Christina answered her and grabbed the knob to open the door, but in that second Bailey stepped in.

"Of course you have to wait for rounds Yang!" Bailey shouted at her when she heard what Christina had said.

Christina stepped back and stood quiet.

"Karev and Yang you are working for Dr. Burke today, O'Mailey you go with Dr. Kandal in OBGYN, Grey you are with Dr. Shepherd and Stevens you are covering the pit! Now go and try to make me proud of you!" Bailey turned around immediately and left.

"Wow! Once again in cardio, Christina?" Alex asked her smiling suspicious.

Christina ignored his comment and stormed out on door.

"Does it smell like a new attending-intern romance?" Alex asked his friends.

Meredith avoided to answer and followed Christina outside.

"With Burke?" Izzie smiled suspicious too.

---------------------

Meredith found Derek, when she stepped in elevator to go up to neurology.

"Good morning Dr. Shepherd! I am your intern today!" She greeted them into a very professional manner, since there were other passengers in there.

"Dr. Grey! It's a pleasure to work with you!" his tone was less professional, but not very nasty either.

They stepped outside from it and started to walk to the nurse's station to take a chart.

"Did you miss me last night?" Derek whispered, this time with a suggestive smile on his face.

Meredith giggled and gave him just a glance "I slept immediately, so… nope sorry!"

Derek admitted that it felt a little hurt, but he knew that she was just teasing him.

"I didn't miss you either, in fact I think that we should sleep separately for a while!" he continued to whisper to her while they were heading to the nurse's station.

Meredith started to laugh and shook her head "Yeah right!"

Derek moved away a little from her, since their closeness was a little too intimate and obvious for the others.

"I have just a surgery scheduled for this afternoon and some post op patients!"

They saw their post op patients, and then Derek asked her to keep her eyes on one f them, because of the possible complications that might appear.

At lunch, all the interns, except Christina, were having the lunch in patio.

"Christina is not joining us today?" Izzie asked when she noticed that Christina was missing.

"Burke asked her to do something for him" Alex smirked suggestively at them.

A common "Oh" came from Izzie and George.

"Come on guys, leave her alone! You are not even sure that she has a relationship with Burke" Meredith took Christina's side.

"No we are not sure, but we are sure that you know if it is true!" Alex said and all three of them turned their looks at her.

"I… I don't! How could I possibly know?"

"Meredith, she is you new best friends so you must know this kind of things!" Alex continued to pressure her to talk.

Meredith found in his last statement a good opportunity to change the subject "What is Alex? Are you jealous that you are no longer by best friend?" she asked her laughing.

"Oh, so you do admit that I am not your best friend and that Christina is!"

"Aww…you are jealous!" Meredith drew her chair closer to his and started to ruffle his hair smiling "You are still my best friend, Alex! Trust me, I didn't cheat on you!"

Alex took her hand out of his hair annoyed and moved his chair closer to Izzie's, moving away from Meredith.

"Grey!" right in that moment, Bailey came to their table.

"Yes Dr. Bailey!" Meredith stood up and turned to Bailey.

"When you are done with the lunch, go down in pit with Stevens!"

"But Dr. Shepherd has a surgery later!"

"He canceled it, so you are out of his service today!"

"Why?"

"Grey, I am just a poor resident not the information office!" and Bailey turned around and left.

Meredith set down confused.

"What did you do?" Alex asked her with a very serious tone.

"Nothing!" Meredith replayed in defense and started to eat confused from her sandwich.

"Hi" Christina joined them shortly after Bailey's leaving. She took the free seat from Meredith's left and opened the bottle of water that she brought with her.

Alex smiled at her and opened the mouth to say something.

"Don't you dare!" Christina pointed the bottle to him threatening.

Alex remained quiet, but still smiling at her, same as George and Izzie. Christina ignored them, turned her attention on Meredith, and saw her gaze "What is wrong with her?"

"Shepherd banned her from his service today!" George leaned to her and whispered.

"No he didn't!" Christina said very sure of herself.

This caught Meredith's attention and looked at her.

"He is leaving to Boston with your mom, Meredith!"

"He is?" Meredith asked her shocked "In Boston? Why?"

Christina shrugged "I heard them when they were coming out from the Chief's office"

"In Boston?! Why in Boston?!" Meredith started to mumble worried "Oh no!" she stood up immediately causing the others worry.

"What?" Alex followed her up, but Meredith was not paying attention to anyone in that moment and left without any word.

"What could have happened?" Izzie asked worried.

Alex was not sure, but he was having the same presumption as Meredith "I hope that is not what I think it is!" and he left after her.

Meredith found Derek on her way to Richard's office. When Derek saw her so scared, he knew that she must have heard something.

"I have to fly to Boston for a surgery, but I will be back tomorrow!" he told her when she approached him close enough.

"Whose surgery Derek?"

"A patient's surgery! I know that you will miss me! I'll miss you too!" he whispered her trying in the same time to banish her worries from her head.

"Derek" Meredith was not convinced that he was honest.

"I'll call you later!" he stroked her hair to back smiling and hurried to leave and to be out of her sight.

Alex caught her right when she was about to enter in Richard's office.

"Meredith!"

Meredith looked at him with fear in her eyes "It cannot be him!"

She opened the door without knocking.

"Meredith… Alex!" Richard stood up and came to them. The worry was written in his eyes too and the way he greeted them, confirmed their fear.

"Why are they flying all the way to Boston, Richard? For whose surgery?" She asked, knowing that this will be Richard's answer.

"He is going to be fine Meredith! He fell down on some stairs and hit his head, but he is conscious and the procedure is a minor one."

In that moment, Meredith felt her view blurring because of the tears and Alex's squeeze on her shoulder.

"Minor? Not to be worried?" Meredith started to shout at him "Then why are mom and Derek going there?"

"First of all Meredith, he is Shepherd for you, not Derek and secondly … you know your mom and aunt, but he is going to be fine!"

"I want to go with them!"

"Impossible Meredith!"

"Chief!" Alex was trying to sustain Meredith "He is her uncle!"

"He is her uncle, but he is going to be fine; on the other hand here are patients that need her most!" Ellis came in and heard them.

"Richard please, you have to let me go! If he will be fine, then tomorrow I will be back, but now I want to see him! I…"

"Meredith, you don't have time for visits right now!" Ellis cut her words immediately.

"I am coming no matter what!" Meredith took a firm position in front of her mother and then she looked at Richard too "You can sanction me if you want, but I am going to Boston too!"

Richard sighed frustrated and nodded "You can go!"

"Richard!" Ellis protested.

"Let her come with you Ellis!"

Ellis rolled her eyes nervous "Change your scrubs and meet us in lobby in half an hour."

During the flight, Meredith and Derek had the luck to have the seats one next to each other, while Ellis was standing with one row in front of them. The entire flight was silent; Meredith's eyes were fixed outside on window, while her hand was resting in Derek's.

From the airport, they drove straight to Boston Memorial Hospital, where Ellis's sister, Carolyn was a surgeon too and her brother-in-law, Michael was admitted.

"Ellis!" a voice greeted them when they stepped out from elevator.

"Carolyn, hi!" this was one of the rare moments in which Ellis was smiling and kind with a member of her family.

"Thank you so much for coming Ellis!"

"How's Michael?"

"Same and ready for surgery!" just then Carolyn noticed Meredith's presence "Meredith, hi!" she saluted her surprised and looked at her sister "Why did you bring her with you?"

"She insisted to come!"

"Hello aunt Carolyn! It's nice to see you too!" Meredith faked a smile and answered her acid for her cold greeting.

Carolyn ignored her comment and moved her attention to Derek "You must be Dr. Shepherd!"

"It's nice to meet you Dr. Thor!" Derek gave her the hand for shake and Carolyn took it and smiled politely.

"Thank you for accepting to come, Dr. Shepherd!"

Derek nodded smiling.

"Come, let me take you to Michael, he is in room 367"

All three followed her to the room where Meredith's uncle was. She slowly opened the door and stepping in they saw him looking like he was asleep. In the moment that Carolyn first opened the door, he felt them coming in.

"Hey!" he told her sleepy, without noticing yet the others' presence.

"Hey, Ellis is here!" Carolyn went to his bed and checked the machines that he was connected at.

Michael rubbed his eyes and moved into a more comfortable position, so that he can greet Ellis properly. After he did that, he saw Meredith there too.

"Meredith?!" he asked surprised.

Immediately Meredith hurried to his bed with tears in her eyes and hang on his neck "Uncle Mike!"

"Hi Meredith, this is a surprise!" he took her head in his head and kissed her forehead "A very nice surprise! I am so happy too see you!"

"I am happy to see you too! I've missed you so much!"

"I've missed you too baby!" and he pulled her for a hug.

"Hello Michael!" Ellis came to him and interrupted their moment.

Meredith took a seat on bed resting her elbow on his shoulder, while Michael sneaked his arm around her waist.

"Hello Ellis!"

"This is our neurosurgeon, Dr. Derek Shepherd! He will perform your surgery." Ellis introduced this way Derek to Michael.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Thor!"

"Thank you for coming Dr. Shepherd, but you should have bothered to come all the way here!"

"There is no bother Mr. Thor! I am glad that I can help!"

"You need the best care Michael and Dr. Shepherd is the best!" Ellis said to him.

Michael looked up at Meredith happy and started to smooth her hair "Just having her here makes I feel much better! You can return to Seattle and leave my girl here, because I don't need any surgery! No offense Dr. Shepherd!"

Derek laughed and nodded, approving Michael's statement.

Meredith giggled and gave him a kiss for his compliment "Unfortunately uncle, I cannot do miracles!"

"Oh yes you do! Trust me you do, Meredith!" he kissed her cheek one more time and pulled her head down on his shoulder.

"Ok, enough with the sloppiness, we have to hurry with the surgery so that we can return to Seattle tomorrow!" Ellis interrupted fast their closeness grabbing his chart.

"We have to run a few more test before and then we can start with the surgery!" Derek also took a professional position.

An intern took him to do the pre op tests accompanied by Derek and Ellis, while Meredith waited for their return in his room.

----------------------

Derek slowly opened the door, seeing through window that Michael was sleeping and Meredith was resting her head at the bed's edge.

Meredith felt him coming in, so she raised her head and looked at him. Her eyes were tired and puffy; it was obvious to him that she had cried. She lightened her face when she saw him coming in alone.

"Hey!" he whispered gently as he approached her and kissed her forehead.

"Hey!"

"The tests look good, he will be fine Mer!" Derek knelt at her level and started to rub gently one of her cheeks.

"Thank you!" she whispered back smiling and thanked him properly with a quick kiss; she then rested her forehead on his, closing her eyes.

Derek took her head in his hands and kissed one more time her frown forehead "Is he sleeping for a long time?"

Meredith looked down at her watch "For about an hour!"

"We should wake him up soon to prepare him for surgery!"

Meredith nodded and straightened herself in her seat. Derek stood up and came behind her holding her head on his abdomen.

"I am awake already!" Michael started to mumble and slowly he opened his eyes, turning them to Meredith and Derek smiling.

Meredith and Derek looked a little worried at each other, not knowing if he had heard or seen anything.

"I am ready! I can't wait to get out of this hospital!" Michael smiled at them acting normal.

"I'll call the intern to prepare you then!" Derek told him and gave a squeeze to Meredith's shoulder heading then to door. Before going out Derek gave one more encouraging smile to Meredith.

Meredith smiled back and turned her look to her uncle.

"You are going to be fine!" she bent down to him and kissed him gently.

"I know!" he smiled relaxed "He is the best, isn't he?"

"He is!"

Michael moved over to make room for her in his bed. Meredith took immediately the seat that her uncle offered her.

"How is the life with your mother?"

"Hard" she then returned her look ahead, "Impossible!"

"Be strong Meredith!" he pulled her into his arms, so that she can rest her on him. "Are you happy?"

At his question, Meredith let a tear to slip down on her cheek.

He gently wiped it away with the backhand and kissed her wet cheek. "Are you in love?"

Meredith looked into his eyes with a smile and nodded.

"Then you are happy! If he loves you back, then you have to feel like the happiest and luckiest woman from this world." He saw her eyes sparkling in that moment "And I am sure that he loves you!" he affirmed and sustained his confidence with a smile and a nod.

"How do you know? You don't even know him!" she asked him smiling suspicious.

"I know it, because it is impossible not to love you!"

Meredith laughed, "Only my mother doesn't love me!"

Michael saw another tear running down her cheek again, and again he wiped it gently.

"Why did she bring me on this world if she didn't want a child? She could have got rid of me fast!"

"Meredith, you were a desired baby…" at his words, Meredith laughed ironic "…You were Mer, everything change later when your father changed too! I don't know why she took this attitude regarding you… I cannot understand either! I tried to talk to her, but… you know her, she doesn't confess so easy!"

An intern sneaked her head trough the half-open door "Mr. Thor, we have to take to surgery!"

Michael nodded and Meredith stood up from his bed.

----------------------

"Dr. Shepherd!" Michael called him to him, while he was already on table ready for surgery.

Derek just got in the OR after he had scrubbed in. Michael motioned him to bend down to him.

"If you love her, take care of her for me, if you don't, then please let her go! She might be difficult sometimes, but it is juts because of Ellis! She is a good girl who deserves love… a lot of love."

Derek remained surprised a little, but he understood what Michael was saying.

"You will go out from here alive I promise!" he then whispered to him "I do love her!"

"Take care of her no matter how this ends!"

----------------------

Meredith waited in Michael's room during the surgery. She curled on chair and rested her head between her knees.

She was also there when he woke up from anesthesia and during the night, not living him for a second. Derek and Ellis slept over Carolyn's house in that night, even if Derek would have not wanted to be next to Meredith in that night.

"You know, your room is still there!" Michael spoke when he saw Meredith stretching her legs and arms as she was waking up.

Meredith opened her eyes to look at his uncle, who was in his bed. She stood up from the couch that she had slept on and stretched her back, massaging in the same time the back.

"Morning!" she approached his bed and bent down on him to kiss him "How are you feeling?"

"A little dizzy, but I am fine!" he looked up at her smiling and brushing her hair, he was moving it behind the ears. "You should have gone home and sleep!"

Meredith took a seat on the bed's edge shaking her head. "And to leave you alone? Never! Plus, I couldn't have slept better there either with the two sisters!"

"No, but you could have slept better with Derek!" he smiled suggestively at her "By the way, you didn't tell me how is Alex doing?" he let the statement about Derek behind and changed the subject.

Meredith was shocked to hear him saying that and her first thought was that Derek must had told him.

"Alex is fine!" she tried to answer his question, even if her mind was at his previous words.

"Is he still a jackass?"

"Yeah…" Meredith smiled "And believe it or not he is a doctor!"

Michael smiled amused "That brat! You are still sharing the same house?"

"Yes, together with 3 more colleagues from work. One of them is his girlfriend!"

"Knowing him, I bet that she is blonde and has big boobs!"

Meredith started to laugh "Uncle!"

"What? Tell me that it isn't so!"

Meredith continued to laugh as she was nodding "She is! Her name is Izzie!"

"I knew it! Is it serious?"

"They are together since the day one! I this is his longest relationship so far, so I guess it is serious."

"How about yours?"

Meredith turned her face away from him smiling and changed the subject "I heard that you are going to retire from police!"

"It's true, but now we are talking about you! Mer, we used to talk a lot about these things, what happened?"

Meredith looked at like she was having no clue about what he was talking about "Nothing!"

"Is it because I mentioned Derek?"

Right in that moment Derek opened the door and stepped in.

"Oh… speaking of Derek!" Michael smiled when he saw him coming in.

"Good morning Mr. Thor!" Derek saluted him smiling, but a little confused "Good morning Meredith!"

Meredith gave him just a glance smiling, but it was a glance that didn't pass unnoticed by her uncle.

"Are you talking about me?" Derek came at his bed, not very far from Meredith.

"We are trying to!" Michael responded to Derek cheerful.

"Good things I hope!"

"We didn't get the chance to talk too much, but good things so far!"

"I'm glad to hear that!" Derek smiled wide at each of them, insisting his look on Meredith, who was now avoiding to look at any of them.

She was having the assuredness that her uncle knows about her and Derek.

Derek gave up, when he saw that he is not getting anything from Meredith returning his attention on Michael and started to look over his chart.

"How are you feeling today?"

"better!" he answered simple.

"Dr. Thor will call me if anything will go wrong, but I am sure that we took the clot out entirely!"

"In this case Dr. Shepherd let me tell you that I hope you still left something in there!"

When they heard that, Meredith and Derek looked at him and then at each other worried.

Michael saw their face expressions and laughed "If this is the only way that I can bring Meredith here to visit me, then I am disposed to call you back here!"

Derek smiled at him, while Meredith bent down to him and kissed him

"Funny uncle! Try to stay far from hospitals and I promise that I will come to visit you whenever I can!"

"You'd better keep your promise, Meredith! Dr. Shepherd is witness!"

"I promise!"

Michael stood up a little with the help of Meredith's and made himself more commode with a few pillows behind him, "Now tell me how long have you two been together?"

His question took them by surprise, even if Derek knew already that Michael knows what is going on with him and Meredith.

Meredith froze for a few seconds when she heard that. Her panicked look remained fixed on Derek, who was less shocked than she was. What surprised him was the normality of Michael's tone when he asked that. He put the question as if he was one of their friends and not a relative of Meredith's.

"Did you think that I wouldn't see it?" he asked amused when he saw their faces.

Meredith left Derek's eyes and moved them on her uncle when he spoke again.

"You have to be blind not to see and blind are those who don't want to see! In this case, I assume that Ellis and Richard are the ones who don't want to see it."

"I am happy to see that at least someone pays attention to Meredith's life!" Derek told him smiling and coming next to Meredith, who was still sitting down on bed. "And when I mean someone I refer at family, not friends!"

"So? Since when are you two together?" Michael asked them with the same calm and friendly tone.

"Since I moved to Seattle!" Meredith answered him, when she felt that she can talk to him about this.

"That's a long time and I supposed that it is something serious going on between you two!"

Meredith didn't answer, not knowing what to say. When she looked up at Derek, she saw him smiling wide at her; she then felt his arm wrapping around her shoulders and squeezing it.

"I think we are, aren't we?" he said it without taking his eyes from her.

Meredith didn't confirm or deny it in words; she just smiled back at him, and the sparkle that appeared in her eyes and the way she was biting her lip was confirming it mutual.

"I don't want to discourage you, but you know, Meredith, that your mother will never agree with this!"

"I know!" Meredith let out a sigh and tried to keep a smile and confident smile on her face.

"You should leave from there! You should leave Seattle too!" Michael told them, adopting this time a serious tone. "I think that you already know this, so I hope that it won't shock you what I am about to tell you! Your relationship with your mother, Meredith, won't improve…that soon, so there is no point for you to stay there and torture yourself trying to build something with her. Move on!"

Meredith's eyes started to tear. She knew that everything that her uncle was telling her was true. Unfortunately.

"I know that it is not easy to let everything and go, but… I think it is worth. You are a world-renowned surgeon Dr. Shepherd and you Meredith… you can take advantage for the first time from your mother's fame. You will find another hospital immediately!" he kept his serious tone looking up at both of them "If it is indeed serious, I mean!"

Both of them looked at Michael stunned by the advice he was giving them.

"I think I am going… to buy a coffee!" Meredith smiled obviously a little embarrassed and stood up hurrying to leave.

"I'll go too! I will come back before I leave!" Derek excused himself and left too.

Derek initially wanted to follow Meredith and talk to her, but he ran into Ellis and Carolyn, so he couldn't do it.

Two hours later, Derek found her in Michael's room. He was sleeping in bed and Meredith on the chair next to his bed with the head leaned back.

Derek came in slowly, trying not to wake Michael up, and approached Meredith.

From the position that she was napping, Meredith couldn't have a deep and restful sleep, so she felt someone approaching her and opened her eyes. She saw Derek bent over her face smiling.

He cupped her face with both hands and kissed her lips softly.

"Tired?" he asked her in whisper.

"Yeah!" Meredith straightened herself in chair and leaned her head on Derek.

"You'll get to rest home soon!"

"I can't wait!"

Derek rubbed her cheek gently, giving her another soft kiss on lips. Then he repeated it, this time keeping it longer.

"This is the way I want to see you two!" Michael's voice echoed in the silent room.

"Is it, Michael?" immediately Carolyn's voice resounded with stupor.

They all looked into the doorway's direction where Carolyn was staying. She closed the door and came in.

"Are you serious?" She continued her questions looking at him angry. "This is how the things are going at Seattle Grace? The attendings kissing the interns?" she then moved her disgusted look to Meredith and Derek. "Impressive Meredith!" Carolyn shook her head with disagreement and left out on door.

Meredith felt her body numb, cold sweats all over it and nauseous. Everything that Derek could do in that moment was to squeeze harder her shoulder.

"You know that she is going to tell Ellis!" Michael told them with sympathy for what was about to come.

"I know!" Meredith's voice mumbled.


	24. The confrontation

After a few minutes of silence, while Derek was holding a panicked Meredith tight in his arms, under the close supportive look of her uncle, the door opened. At first, they thought it was Ellis, but by the way that the door was opened and the sound of the footsteps, which were slow and calm, they immediately realized it was not Ellis. Looking up again into the doorway's direction, they saw an intern.

"Dr. Shepherd, Dr. Grey. Dr. Thor asked me to tell you that Dr. Grey left."

Derek nodded and the intern stepped outside.

"Consider what I've told you." Michael told them, referring at their leaving from Seattle Grace.

"It's over!" Meredith mumbled with a crying tone, almost incomprehensible.

Derek pulled her back into his arms, kissing her head and cuddling her "It's not over!!... I promise!"

Michael encouraged them, especially Meredith, and wished them to get trough all, safety and together; he also asked them to get in touch with him from time to time and he asked one more time to Derek to take care of his little girl.

The flight back home was silent and full of fears, especially coming from Meredith who kept a blank stare on her face. Derek held her in his arms all the way back home, trying to comfort her and repeating her how everything was going to be fine.

Because they didn't have any baggage with them, they left the airport immediately.

"Where are we going from here?" Meredith asked him, these being also her first words after many hours.

"I have a surgery scheduled in about three hours, but I am taking you home first."

"No… I'll come with you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I will wait for you in cafeteria."

Derek took her again in his arms and comforted her "It is a simple procedure, so it should not take longer than 2 hours."

Derek stopped a car and together with Meredith, they headed to hospital.

When the taxi pulled in front of the hospital, Meredith took a deep breath and Derek squeezed her hand as encouragement before getting out from car. He offered her his hand and she accepted it giving him a slight smile and headed inside together holding hand in hand, this time without any worry for the curious eyes.

"I'll walk you to cafeteria, because I need a coffee too."

Derek let Meredith first to order, and when he saw that she is requesting just a coffee, Derek insisted to buy something to eat too, but Meredith refused. Therefore, when he ordered his coffee, he also ordered a tuna sandwich demanding her to eat it.

Meredith didn't continue with the protest and took it resignedly. Derek led her to a free table, somewhere in a more private corner and took a seat with her. He stayed with her for a couple of minutes talking with her about the surgery that he was about to perform, keeping this way her mind away from her mother.

"Do you want to assist me?" he asked her.

Meredith shook her head "No, I want to stay as far as possible from the surgical floor right now."

Derek squeezed her hand and stood up. Before he left, Derek kissed her forehead ignoring a few stares that their intimacy had caught from the others.

Once that Derek was out of her sight, Meredith fell again into a trance. The moment of confrontation between her and her mother was coming. She said to herself that now it was the time; the time to confront her mother, not just regarding her relationship with Derek, but also for their own relationship.

"_I don't have reason to be afraid of; she never cared about me, so she shouldn't be pissed off for my love life either… she has to right to be"_ She had started to bit the lip nervous with each word that she was saying in her mind. _"I can do this!"_ She had started to nod too as she was listening her interior voice. _" and I am going to do it right now!"_

She stepped out of trance with her last thought and grabbing the chair's arms in hands she lifted herself from it; but her butt lifted just a few inches because immediately she fell back on chair. "_It doesn't have to be in this second"…. "I will go in about 5 minutes"_ She looked at watch to check the time. _"5 minutes"_ her voice resounded in her mind.

Her eyes fixed on watch ticking with the index in its screen, waiting for those 5 minutes to pass. She watched it calm, with the mind blank; no thought, word or images were present in there anymore.

The breath stopped when the last second from those 5 minutes passed. With firm hands, she grabbed again the chair's arms and repeated to move from 5 minutes ago. Her butt was firmly refusing to stand up more than a few inches from chair.

The attempt continued repetitively in the same way.

"Do you have an itch and need a scratch?"

Meredith fell back on chair and this time she stayed there. Her best friend's joke brought a light smile on her darken face, lightening it a little.

Alex took a chair and placed right glued to Meredith's. His amused face disappeared when he set down and put his hand on her back, rubbing it for comfort.

In the moment that Alex's hand had started to comfort her, her eyes started to tear.

"I met Derek- He told me." he said with a pity voice.

"Yeah" that one was not even a word; it sounded more like a sound.

Alex gave her a few glances before he could find the right thing to say.

"How's Michael?" That was the right thing to ask her first. Definitely!

"He's doing ok. He is recovering smoothly"

"I miss him!" this time he dared to look at her, and when he did it, he met her look.

"Me too!"

Alex laughed a little as if a memory had run through his head "Can you believe that now I miss his persecution?"

"Unbelievable, isn't it? You don't think that you are going to miss a thing, until that thing is gone." she smiled amused at him as if they were sharing the same memory. Or maybe they were sharing the same memory since they had so many together and most of them including her uncle.

Alex sneaked his arm around hers and leaned his head on hers, "What is going to happen now Mer?"

Meredith sighed deeply and leaned herself on his too, "I don't know Alex, but I am going to find out soon."

"But how did she find out?"

"Carolyn saw us kissing."

Alex raised his head a little to look at her "You and Derek kissed even if you knew that your entire family was around? What did Michael say? I bet he wasn't very happy to hear this!"

"Actually, he found out first, without us to do anything. He knew it since he saw us."

"And?"

"He encouraged us to go on, to leave Seattle, and exactly when he was telling us that my mom will never agree with us, we have been busted by Carolyn."

"Will you leave?"

Meredith shrugged "Probably"

Alex's pager broke them apart. He checked it "It's 911" he stood up to leave, but before he turned to Meredith and bent down to her "No matter what Ellis will say or do, Mer you deserve love and she won't give you any, so if Derek wants, then accept his. And don't forget then I am here for you, ok?"

Meredith looked up at him tearing and nodded.

Alex gave her a kiss on forehead and hurried to leave after he had been paged for a second time.

Meredith watched him leaving, and his last words started to repeat in her mind _"You deserve love and she won't give you any"_ . After a few minutes of repeating that, Meredith stood up fast, without hesitation this time and left hurried to take the elevator to get on the surgical floor.

Her walk was hurried and determined, but on inside she was praying to find her mother into a surgery. Her steps stopped in front of the surgical board. She stopped breathing when she saw that her mother's name was not there.

Meredith remained in front of it for a few minutes staring at board. Into a final, she took a deep breath and started to walk again; this time slower and more hesitant. Her steps were approaching to Ellis's office more and more, until they stopped in front of the door.

Her mind was blank in that moment; she was having no idea what she would tell to her mother, the only thing that she knew was that she had to face her.

Meredith took a deep breath and knocked on door.

"_Come in!"_ Ellis's voice called that person inside.

"_Now or never!"_ Meredith said to herself as she grabbed the door handle.

She opened the door and entered "Hello mother!" her salute came as usual. The voice was not betraying the mix of feelings from inside of her.

Ellis gave her just a glance when Meredith came in, then she returned her attention on the papers that she was filling.

"I have to admit that I am impressed! You had the courage to be you the one who came to me and I didn't have to chase you to find you!" Ellis told her continuing to write.

Meredith closed the door, approached a little more closely to her office, and remained standing in front of her. "This time you were the one who ran away and I had to chase you!" Meredith answered acid same as Ellis had talked to her.

That made Ellis to put aside the work and stood up with an angry look on her face. If the look would kill, then Meredith would have died right in that moment. "You cannot even imagine how disappointed I am on you! I really thought that I raised a wise girl, which has ambition and determination to build a career on her own. I was so proud to see how well you were doing here without favoritisms. But now… all of the sudden Carolyn hits me in head when she tells me that my daughter is kissing her attendant. I am profound disappointed Meredith, to find out that everything I believed about you, proved to be false."

Meredith had listened her quiet and very shocked. It had for her relationship with Derek to be discovered, so that Ellis can say everything that she believes about her. She was actually proud of her, but now she thinks that Meredith did so well so far as a doctor just because she is sleeping with Derek.

"First of all mother, you didn't raise me. Uncle Michael did it for you. If you paid for my education, this doesn't mean that you raised me because trust me… you have no idea what it means to raise a chil.!"

"Oh and you do know!" Ellis cut her with irony.

"I do, because I do know how it is to grow up without a mother and a father! I do know how it is to be raised by someone else! So is not you that should be proud or disappointed on me for what I do! Michael should be, you have no right!" Just now, her tears had started to flood her eyes, but the firm tone of her voice was unchanged.

"How dare you…"

"How I dare?! How I dare?!" Meredith was determined to make herself listened and stopped Ellis protest "How dare you?" emphasizing the 'you' "Wasn't I with you in the OR? Or just then I wasn't doing so great? And how many times do you think that I scrubbed in to a neuro case? What happens between Derek and I, is something personal and that has always stayed outside our professional life! You know very well they I didn't get any favors from none here and everything that I did, I did it on my own forces … you are disappointed to see me happy, to see that someone loves me… this is the reason you are disappointed for."

"Happy? Someone loves you? Shepherd loves?" Ellis started laughing sarcastic "How stupid you are Meredith to believe that he loves you? You're just another woman, a young one that he noted in his list with women. You really are stupid!"

"It is hard to believe that someone can love me, isn't it?" Meredith replayed her in the same acid manner.

Ellis kept her arms crossed against the chest and with the same arrogant look on her face. She gave Meredith a pitying smile, returned to her office taking a seat, and to her paper work "You will see how much he loves you now when the true is out and he will have to face it. You will become history for him… if you are not already."

Meredith wiped her cheeks "You are going to be surprised." and she turned around to go to door. After just a few steps she stopped and returned to Ellis's office.

"I have just one question"

That caught Ellis' attention again and put aside the pen to look up at her daughter.

"Why did you bring me into this world? Why didn't you aborted me or sent for adoption?"

"Why? Do you feel sorry for having me as a mother?" Ellis asked her as she was standing up from chair.

Meredith let out a small laugh "No, I feel sorry for not having a mother."

"So you don't consider me your mother."

"No, I don't. You are just the woman who paid for my school fees and who makes me feel each day like I am a curse for her. You are the woman who makes me hate my mother."

In all that time Ellis watched her clenching the teeth, but when Meredith said that she let out the anger through a strong slap over Meredith's cheek.

Meredith instinctively covered it; her cold palm was calming down a little the burn produced by Ellis's slap.

Both of them watched into each other's eyes for a couple of moments and in both of their eyes, the anger was reflected.

"Get out, I can't even look at you anymore!" Ellis demanded her as she returned to her seat and started to work again.

"Gladly." Meredith nodded and with tremble in her voice and her body. She turned back to door and opened it wide; in less than a second she was out of there, leaving the door open behind her and hurrying to go as far as possible from that office.

The shouts were pretty loud, so many curious were hanging around it. Many people saw Meredith storming out angry from her mother's office and holding the hand over her cheek. This is why the rumor was not late to be spread out.

Meredith ignored all the stares; she didn't actually see the stares, her eyes were focused just on her way. She needed a place to hide and the best place was as usual the basement. It was not a good place to hide from her friends, but this wasn't what she wanted. She wanted to hide from the others.

She found the right spot between two stretchers, so she set down on floor hugging the knees and keeping the look blank ahead. The tears were flowing slowly down her cheeks, without any sob or pain. In that moment, just those tears were the sign that she was still alive and that her brain was still functioning.

The gossips brought one by one all her friends; they were talking to her, but she was not listening. At one point, none was saying anything and they were just gathered around her. Alex's arm was protectively wrapped around her and her head rested on his shoulder.

"Can you please leave me alone with her?"

Everyone turned around to see Derek standing near them. He kneeled in front of Meredith, grabbing her knees with both hands. His eyes fixed hers and his hands gently wiped her cheeks. Derek didn't look at her friends when they stood up to leave; he had just noticed the empty spot that Alex had occupied, so he moved there.

Just at Derek's presence, Meredith reacted and came back from trance. His arm was now wrapped around her waist and his other hand was touching gently the tumid cheek, which was now burning because of the slap.

"Why did you go by yourself? You should have waited for me too!" Derek told her as he was pulling her body into his, with her head resting in his arms.

Meredith wiped the tears and put her arms around him. She stood there for a few minutes in silence, until the sobs stopped.

Meredith wiped the last tears and raised the head from him. "I can't believe that I finally did it." She looked at him, with a very small smile crossing the face, as if she was proud of what she had done "I've finally told mom what I think about her and she finally told me what she really thinks about me."

Derek smiled and ran his hand through her hair slowly "You shouldn't have done it on you own."

Meredith nodded slowly. "I had too… this is about me and her … our kiss was just the moment that we both waited to confront each other!" she put the head back on him and sighed "I want to go"

Derek pulled her away and stood up holding her hand "Come!"

Meredith followed him up and in the moment that she was up on her feet, Derek took her by waist and she rested her head on him again, both of them starting to walk to locker room.

There Derek changed his clothes and called for a taxi, then he walked Meredith outside the hospital.

Many stares were on Meredith, since the gossip about the slap had traveled fast. Not just Meredith attracted their stares, Derek did the same since he was refusing to let his hand leave from her waist showing the intimacy between them.

In that moment, neither Meredith nor Derek cared about the hospital's tabloids.

Derek unlocked the door and opened it for Meredith, letting her to go in first. As they stepped in, Alex and Izzie came running to check who had just come in.  
Meredith gave them just a small smile and in silence she past by their side and looked for her way to upstairs, closely followed by Derek, who responded them same as Meredith, with the same forced smile.

Meredith opened the door of her room and stepping in she dropped the bag on floor and let herself fall on back in bed. Derek took of her shoes and laid next to her, resting his head on one hand and brushing her hair with the other one. Meredith was keeping her eyes fixed on ceiling into a complete silence. The only sounds that were heard were those of their breaths.  
When Derek bent down to kiss her forehead, his hand moved down her cheeks rubbing them gently. By the touch of her swollen cheek, Meredith let out an "Ouch", instinctively removing his hand away from there.

"I'm sorry! Does it hurt?"  
Meredith took her look from ceiling, when Derek's hand produced her the pain and moved it to him "No" she shook her head "But you know what hearts me?" it was more like a statement than a question "the fact that I hate my mother. How is it possible to hate your own mother? What kind of person am I?"   
Since they left from hospital, Meredith's face remained motionless, but now, as she was asking herself these, the tears starting to flew her eyes again, rolling down her cheeks and dripping off from under the chin.  
"You are a person who suffered a lot because of her, so it is normal to feel like this."  
"Derek, but we are not supposed to hate our mothers. They should be the most important person from our lives."

Derek didn't know what to say to her; she was right! His relationship with his mother and his family was completely different from hers. He put his head down, resting it on hers and reached for her fingers to intertwine with his and held them like this for a several seconds in complete silence. 

Meredith was no longer sobbing or crying; her look was again empty.

"I want to leave!"

Derek lifted his head and turned to face Meredith.

Meredith turned her face to him too, "I want to leave Derek! I am sorry, but I cannot be here with my mother!"  
"Where?"  
"I don't know." Meredith sighed and returned her look to ceiling "In Boston I have my aunt, which is not far from my mother's personality; as much as I love my uncle, I cannot go there."  
"Maybe I will go to L.A., where Jim is!" she looked again at Derek.  
"Why wouldn't we go to New York? I am sure that there they will receive you."  
"We?!" Meredith didn't hear anything else but that.  
Derek started to run his hand along her forehead and through her hair, kissing softly her lips "I love you Meredith!... I know I never said it, but I love you and I want to help you, I want to be with you!"  
"You love me!"  
"I do."  
"Derek, what could you possibly love about me?"  
Derek smiled and bent over her to kiss her again "You are underestimating yourself Meredith. I love your personality, the wonderful woman that you became, despite the absence of a family. I love your giggle and your smile, how you flirt with other guys..." he paused here to accentuate that last remark; but he did it with a smile on his face to assure her that he really loves that and he is not just saying it "I love the sex, of course!"   
That brought a smile on Meredith's face and a giggle; she had just found out that Derek was in love with.  
"So, what do you think about New York?"  
"You never told me why you left from there."  
"I didn't but I will tell you! Anyway, now I am more than ready to go back."

Meredith turned her look back on ceiling and sighed. "I don't know right now." she let out a sigh and closed the eyes "I need to rest."  
"Tomorrow I will talk to Richard about us, now rest." He laid down next to her, covering her abdomen with his arm.

He soon, felt her sleeping, so he stood up and pulled a cover over her, heading then slowly to door. 

Downstairs, Derek found all her friends sitting in kitchen.   
"How is she?" Alex was the first one who saw him coming.   
Derek took a seat on table next to them and shook his head "I don't know."

While Derek was telling them what happened and what his plan to help her was, they heard a car leaving from their driveway.  
Immediately they stood up and hurried outside. Meredith's car was missing.


	25. You really are my McDreamy

"I know where is she is," Alex said and motioned to Derek in the same time to follow him to his car. He got on the driver seat and drove away together with Derek.

-------------------

"Hey Joe!" Meredith took a seat on bar saluting the bartender.

"Hello there!" Joe greeted her smiling and looking careful at her "Dr. Grey, right?"

Meredith smiled and nodded "Meredith"

"Long time no see, Meredith"

"Life of a doctor Joe!"

Joe noticed the swelling from her cheek and leaned over the counter to give a closer look "Girl fight, I hope!"

"Yeah" Meredith nodded smiling.

"Let me guess... for a man"

Meredith continued to approve him with nods "Something like this, and unfortunately the other girl was my mother"

"Ouch!" Joe stepped back surprised "Tequila?"

"Straight"

"Straight tequila, right away" Joe took a shot glass, filled it with liquor and slammed in front of her.

Meredith took it and from one move she poured it down the throat, slamming it back then.

Joe refilled it for her "Can I dare to ask who won?" he asked her.

Meredith giggled, starting to feel already a little high because of the alcohol. "Well... let me see... I've got to stay with the guy, my cheek is a little disfigured, my place work is going to be a nightmare from now on, I did tell her everything I feel for her... let's call it a equality."

-------------------

Alex parked the car in front of the Emerald Bar.

They went inside and immediately they spotted Meredith standing at bar.

"Meredith" Derek went to her and took her by her waits, taking in the same the glass from her hand.

"DEREK" Meredith shouted exalted under the influence of a few glasses of tequila.

"You were sleeping Meredith, how did you get here?"

"I had a nightmare Derek" Meredith giggled dizzy "I had a dream in which my mom was slapping me"

"Let's go home Mer" Alex came by her side too and grabbed her arm.

"Oh... my hero" Meredith laughed and leaned on him.

Derek smiled at Alex and pulled her back to him "Come Mer!"

"I don't want to go home Derek! I need this!" Meredith recovered her depressed look and grabbed the glass and gulped it so fast that neither Derek nor Alex could stop her in time.

"Meredith, you don't need to drown yourself in alcohol" Derek insisted motioning to Joe not to pour her another.

"I do need it! Right now this is what I need the most!"

"Mer..."

"Leave me alone Alex! You don't have to play this role of big brother to me all the time because you are not my brother." Meredith snapped at him angry when Alex touched her again.

"Meredith, are you choosing a bottle of tequila instead of me?"

Meredith looked at him, this time looking more sober "I need a pause... I need a pause not to feel like this... even if it is just for a night."

Derek ran his hand through her hair brushing it along its length "Feeling is normal Meredith. We need to live all kind of feelings, because this is what makes us stronger. Don't you want to be stronger?"

Meredith rested her head on him and sighed "I do"

"Then let's go home!"

Meredith raised the head and looked at him, then at Alex, then at Joe, who was attending another customer and then back at Derek. She didn't say anything and just stood up taking first Derek's hand and then Alex's, heading together with them outside the bar.

Derek helped her to get into her car and then he got in on the driver seat while Alex drove back in his own car.

During the ride Meredith fell asleep resting the head on window. It was because of the distress, because of the alcohol, so when Derek pulled car in front of her house, there was no way to wake her up. With Alex's help, who kept the door open, Derek took her out from car, carrying her then into the house.

Christina, Izzie and George were all in living room waiting to see what had happened to Meredith. When they heard the car, they all ran out of the house exactly when Derek was pulling Meredith out from car.

"Did she pass out?" Christina came to them worried, same as the others were too.

"No, she has just fallen asleep a few minutes ago" Derek told them and hurried to take her into the room.

Izzie was the one who opened the door for him and lifted the covers, so that he can place her slowly in bed.

"Do you need any help?" She asked him seeing Derek taking Meredith's shoes off.

"No thank you! You can all go, I take care of her." Derek just sent them a glance and returned his attention on Meredith. He took off her pants too and covered her with the blankets.

He undressed himself, took off the shoes and got in bed next to her, turning off the lights and pulling her into his arms.

Feeling his embrace, Meredith rolled over to face him, still sleeping, and snuggled into his arms.

------------------

The next morning Derek woke up very early, and thinking that Meredith would stay home that day, he turned off the alarm and went to take a shower in the bathroom from down the hall, then he went downstairs to grab something to eat.

When he returned to Meredith, he was surprised to see her awake and just getting out from shower.

"Morning" he came to her and kissed her softly.

"Morning" Meredith kissed him back smiling. In that morning the smile was the one that Derek knew very well; the one belonging to a cheerful Meredith.

"Why are you awake? You should have slept longer!"

"And to be late for rounds so that Bailey can wipe the floor with me?" Meredith closed the door that Derek had let it open and unwrapped the towel from around her.

"Are you coming to work today?" Derek took a seat on the bed's edge watching her.

"Of course I am! I am an intern and I cannot afford to lose hours of practice just because of my mother's."

Derek was very surprised to see this radical change at her, considering in what state she was last night.

"So I was right" he leaned on back in bed, resting himself on arms and looked up at her smiling.

"Right?! About what?" Meredith glanced him curious while she was searching through closet for some clothes.

"To feel and not to get drunk"

Meredith threw on bed the clothes she had picked and leaned over to Derek "What can I say..." she kissed his lips and pulled back a little "You really are my McDreamy"

Derek laughed and pulled her back, this time bringing her down in his arms. "I guess I am, ain't I?"

Meredith giggled and let him kiss her properly.

He rolled on top of her to have her under him, his lips kissing in all this time hers keeping her head between his hands. She responded to his new embrace with the wrapped arms around his neck, holding him this way into her.

Derek straggled his lips from her, but kept his face over hers; he brushed away a strand from her hair to clear the forehead and then rubbed gently her cheek. The swelling from her mother's slap was now gone, the only marks remained from it were a very small bruise and the pain from her soul.

"Meredith, you have to promise me that you will stop running away from me. Especially choosing the tequila instead of me; I would rather see you running to Alex than to alcohol."

"You are not jealous on Alex, but you are jealous on tequila?" Meredith smiled and didn't seem to take in serious Derek's words.

Derek smiled at her too and softly kissed her forehead "I am not jealous on Alex because I know that nothing inappropriate will happen between you two, but I don't trust in tequila, which might take you for sure in someone else's bed" he was joking at that point, but he was serious too "Now seriously Meredith, I want you to come to me for anything, no matter how silly that thing is or how bad. I want you to share everything with me."

"Are you a masochist, who finds pleasure in pain?"

"Yes, I am" he pressed a strong kiss to her lips "But only when it comes to your pain." he let his hands to caress her head and looked into her eyes "I love you Meredith!" he kept his eyes into hers from a few more moments contemplating them and waiting to see in them an answer from her.

Meredith didn't broke the gaze either and let her hands to travel through his hair.

Derek lowered his face to her and started to take each of her lips into a slight grip between his teeth; then he let the lips to massage hers gently and in a final he let the tongue to slip into her mouth, tasting the still a little remained taste from tequila.

Meredith greeted it properly and joined it, starting in this way a long and passionate kiss.

"We have ... to go ... Derek" Meredith managed to mumble between his lips.

"5... more ... minutes"

After about 5 minutes, Meredith pushed his head away from her a little "Let's do something else" she breathed hardly.

"Really?" Derek smirked dirty at her.

"Let's breathe Derek! Let's breathe!" she laughed and slapped playful his back.

"Okay... we can breathe" Derek leaned down on her again and gave her a quick kiss "30 seconds"

Meredith chuckled and lifted herself a little to repeat his quick kiss. She let the head back down on pillow, still keeping the hands through his hair and staring into his eyes.

"I love you too Derek" her voice echoed as a whisper, but filled with emotions.

"I knew it" Derek smiled wide hearing these words from her for the first time "You can only love a McDreamy"

"That's true" Meredith giggled and half-opened the mouth to suggest him to go back to it.

"31 seconds" he smiled "We are late" he said and closed her mouth with his, letting this time the entire weight of his body over hers allowing this way the hands to go down along her curves.

Meredith also let her hands to slide under his shirt caressing the skin from his back.

"We should stop" Meredith moaned while Derek was kissing her neck.

"We should" but he continued to kiss her and none of them seemed to have the intension to end it.

After a very short knock on it, the door opened immediately and a man cleared his throat.

Derek and Meredith stopped right away and looked into the door's direction. They pulled apart in the next second.

"Good morning, Meredith! Shepherd" Richard made his way into her room a little hesitant and closed the door behind him. 


	26. Together

"Richard"  
Derek and Meredith stood up, but immediately Richard motioned them to sit down. "I knew I will find you here," He said looking at Derek.  
Meredith gave a panicked look to Derek. He rubbed her arm and led her down on bed, and then he took a seat next to her.  
Richard pulled a chair in front of them and sat down rubbing his face with frustration. "This is why I preferred to come and talk with you here"   
"Richard..."  
"Why Meredith?" Richard cut Derek's words, like he didn't even hear him and kept his attention over Meredith "I thought we can talk, I thought you trust me. Why didn't you come and tell about this?"  
Meredith looked guilty at him biting her lower lip.  
"Richard, I... umm," Meredith tried to say something, but she didn't know what to say. She knew she can talk to him, but she didn't have the courage to tell him. He was Ellis's husband in the first place, her step father and a very correct boss.   
Derek took her hand and squeezed it.  
"Richard..."  
"Not now Derek. I am talking to my daughter" Richard cut his words again and moved on Meredith's other side. He fixed the floor with his eyes and remained silent for a few moments.  
The room was filled with an uncomfortable silence.  
"I would have helped you Meredith" He finally spoke and looked at her "I would have helped you with your mother. Now... it's too late"  
Meredith looked into his eyes. He was sincere and she was stupid. Stupid and guilty. "I am sorry!"  
"I don't know what is going to happen now with you and your mother. She is mad and she has all the right to be. I cannot defend you now Meredith!"  
"I know! Me and my mom are over this why I want to transfer to another hospital."  
"And I am going with her," This was Derek's full sentence that he managed to say.  
Richard stood up from bed and returned on chair, this time looking at them "Meredith, you have to learn to live with this; it is a situation created by you; you were the one who broaden the distance between you two. You are going to make a great surgeon one day and Seattle Grace is the best hospital in town to do it. Besides..." he took a short pause looking at them "Your mom is going in Africa for 6 months. She offered volunteer to help one of the local hospitals from there."  
"She is?" Meredith asked surprised looking then at Derek.  
"And Derek..." Richard moved now the discussion to Derek "You are more mature than her and this is why you are the one who disappointed me the most! You are an attending and you should know how important it was to come and talk to me about this! I wouldn't have cut no one's head!"  
"It was my fault. I didn't let him." Meredith hurried to defend him, but again Richard was paying attention only to Derek.

"I have to admit that I am impressed by the way that you are standing up for her and you are not stepping back now that the truth is out. None of you has to go from this hospital, because some things are going to change and because I am sure that you will keep this relationship outside the hospital!" he stood up and headed to door "I've told you what I wanted to. Now it is up to you how this will go on."   
"Richard, can I say something now?" Derek stood up and made a few steps toward to him.  
"No! I am not interested to hear excuses or explanations' I already know them; I want to see facts! I trust you! Now hurry up if you don't want to give Bailey a reason to yell at you," he told Meredith and went out closing the door after him.

Derek and Meredith remained in daze.  
"What this means?" Meredith asked him still watching the door.  
"I am not sure" Derek's eyes were fixed over the door too.

Derek pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. "We'll see what this means"

Meredith stepped back and sighed "We'll see! Let's go now!"

Derek took his and Meredith's jacket and led her outside the bedroom.

On hallway, they ran into Alex who was hurrying up to them "What did he say?"

Meredith slapped his arm angry "Couldn't you have warned us?"

"Meredith, I am not your guardian to watch your door anymore"

"He used to watch your door?" Derek asked her curious.

"He did"

"And do you remember what happened then, don't you? Just that, this time we are talking about your step father and my boss, not about your uncle, which is more dangerous!"

"Stop whining Alex! It doesn't matter now"

"Why? Were you doing nasty nasty when he came in?" Alex was about to burst into laugh.

At this moment, they were stepping in living room, where the other residents were too.

"The Chief busted you while you were having sex?" Everyone's eyes grew huge when they heard that, but Izzie was the first one who reacted.

"He didn't only found out about you two, but he also caught you while you were making out?" Christina followed Izzie.

"We weren't doing anything. Could we please go now?" Meredith opened the door and stormed out.

"Sorry! But what did he say? What is going to happen now?" George followed her outside.

Meredith stopped to wait for the others to come too "I don't know George! I am confused... I really don't know what is going to happen... but my mom is leaving!"

"She is?" he asked her shocked but pleasant surprised in the same time.

"To Africa,"

"I'll drive you Meredith" Derek came too and led her to his car.

"Ellis Grey is leaving?" Christina was shocked too, but into an unpleasant way.

George was about to cry of happiness, when Christina saw him and gave him a glare like she was about to knock him down "Do you seriously want to become a surgeon?! How can you be happy that a teacher like her is leaving to teach in Africa?"

"I am just happy for Meredith. This way she will be able to relax a little," George said in defense.

"Yeah right! And you are not happy that you got rid of her torture"

"No, I am not happy"

"Come on guys, we are not waiting you forever," Alex yelled at them from his car.

"Sure" Christina answered to George and walked fast leaving him behind.

------------------------

Later, after the pre rounds, the interns started the rounds with Bailey.

Their first visit was to a neuro case. In there, Derek was already talking with the patient, explaining him some things about the procedure.

"Good morning Mr. Hawk, Dr. Shepherd!" Bailey saluted them as they were stepping inside.

"Good morning Dr. Bailey!" Derek looked up at them, keep his eyes on Meredith a little longer.

Meredith just smiled discreet and avoided to make eye-contact with him. "Who is the intern for this case?"

Meredith grabbed the chart, but Bailey took it right away from her hand and gave it to Christina "Yang, present the case!"

Everybody understood then that had Bailey found out about Meredith and Derek.

Meredith looked at him and shrugged discreet, from somewhere from Bailey's back.

Christina finished the presentation and Derek asked her to prepare the patient for surgery and then to prepare to scrub in.

Bailey left with the others interns to continue the rounds and Derek followed them outside. He remained on hallway to watch Meredith as they were heading to another room. When she was out of his sight, Derek turned around to go to his work. He soon ran into Mark.

"hey there stranger!" Mark patted his shoulder smiling.

"Mark... hi!"

"I heard you were out of town!-"

"Yes, it was Meredith's uncle!-"

Both of them started to walk "Oh... and how is he?"

"It wasn't very serious... he is fine now!-"

"I heard something about a fight between Meredith and her mother..." Mark looked curious at him.

Derek was surprised too to see that Mark is asking this, thinking that the reason for their fight was already known by the entire hospital.

"Don't you know what happened?"

"No... There is something that I should know?"

Derek changed their way and led Mark into a conference room and closed the door behind them.

"What is going on, Derek?"

"Meredith was with us in Boston"

"So?"

Derek just looked at him.

"Oh...Oh no! Are you serious?" Mark was somewhere between amusement and shock "Ellis caught you?!"

"No, it was Meredith's aunt that saw us kissing"

"Geez...This was the reason of their fight. What did Richard say?"

"Well... this is weird... he was not happy to find out like this and he asked us to keep this outside the hospital"

"That's it?"

"What else could he do? There isn't anything illegal in this"

Mark took a seat on table and looked up at him "This is the reason that Ellis is leaving for?"

"To leave because of her daughter's?! I don't think so!"

"This thing between you two is getting more complicated each day. Are you sure you want to go on with it?"

"I am so sure that we are having in consideration the possibility to move to New York together"

"Are you serious?! Would you go back there?"

"Come on Mark! I am not going to avoid New York, just because of her. I have my family there and I would like them to meet Meredith!"

"But you know that she might give hard times to Meredith"

"I just want to see her trying and I can assure you that she will regret"

Mark shook his head smiling "Who would have thought that the fling between you and Meredith will get so serious. What can I say... Good luck!"

Derek nodded and checked his watch "I have to scrub in. I'll talk to you later!"

"Ok"

Both went out from there and each of them head to his work.

------------------------------------

After his surgery, Derek went to buy himself a coffee. On his way out from there, he met Meredith, who was just coming in.

"Hey" Meredith exhausted look lighted up when she saw him.

"Hey Are you having lunch already?" he asked her looking at his watch.

"No; I will just grab a snack now, because during lunch I'm scrubbing in with Burke!"

"Can I join your snack?" Derek gave her a suggestive smile.

Meredith smiled in the same manner, "Down in basement?"

"You'll find me there" he winked at her and left the cafeteria.

------------------------------------

After a few minutes, Meredith went down in basement and found Derek waiting for her there on a gurney and drinking his coffee.

When he saw her coming, he moved over to make room for her next to him.

"Junk food, Meredith?" he asked seeing the bag with chips from her hand.

Meredith took a seat and leaned on him for a kiss.

Derek put his arm around her to bring her closer and kissed her.

"Want one?" she asked him offering the bag.

"No thanks! I am not that hungry"

Meredith shrugged and rested herself on him "Your loss. These have chicken flavor."

"Exactly... just flavor!" he kissed her forehead and took another sip from his coffee. "How is your day?"

Meredith raised the head and looked at him "It's weird, because it's normal. Nothing is different. Burke doesn't seem to know anything and neither the nurses. No whispers. That's weird!"

"It is indeed! Just Bailey knows" Derek nodded looking at her.

"Just Bailey"

"Have you met you mom today?"

Meredith shook her head and sighed with relief "Thank God, no! Did you?"

"Nope... not yet"

"So..." Meredith put down next to her the chips "What are we going to do know?"

"I don't know… Whatever you want to"

"My mom is leaving tomorrow"

"So you want to stay here, right?"

Meredith looked at him a little worried "My friends are here; my only friends, but your family is there"

Derek smiled understanding her worry and pulled her head to kiss her "I love Seattle!"

"Don't you miss your family?"

"I do, but I can visit them or they can visit me"

"Is just me, Derek or you are not very happy with the idea of going back there?"

"I would like to go back there, but not to move back. I've told you I love Seattle too much right now," He smiled and kissed softly her lips, caressing them then with his thumb.

"So we are going to stay here"

"In Seattle" Derek confirmed.  
"When are you going to tell me why did you move here from Boston?"

"Soon, if you will behave nice" Derek chuckled and kissed her again, trying in this way to keep her mouth shut.

She felt her pager beeping, so just then Derek let her go. She stood up and grabbed the bag with chips "back to work!"

"What are hour are you off today?" Derek asked her.

"6… You?"

"5, but I will wait for you!"

Meredith smiled happy and left hurried to go back to her floor. Derek stood there for a few more minutes and then he returned to work too.

He passed by Ellis's office and after a few more steps he stopped; he turned around on his heels and after a second of thought he knocked at her door.

"_Come on in!_"

Derek opened the door and stepped in, closing the door.

Ellis was with the back to door filling some boxes, so she didn't see who had come in. Just when Derek cleared his throat and spoke, she turned around.

"Dr. Webber"

Ellis looked up from that box and for a second she kept the look ahead. She turned around moving the box on desk.

"Dr. Shepherd… This is a surprise. Both of you are surprising me with your visits. But I have to admit that you are surprising me the most; I didn't believe that you would dare to face me"

Derek kept his calm and normal attitude and approached her desk "Why wouldn't I? I haven't done anything that I should be ashamed of"

Ellis looked up at him with an eye-brow raised "You haven't?"

"No, I haven't"

Ellis looked back at her papers smiling "You do have some gall to come here and tell me this. Now all that is missing is to tell me that you are in love with my daughter."

Derek sustained his hands on the chair's backrest and looked at her serious "I am! I am in love with Meredith!"

"Sure" her answer came immediately like she was very sure on what she was saying.

"What makes you believe that I don't?"

"Well we'll see how in love you are with her, in 6 months when I will come back; I kind of doubt that you will still be together then."

"Why is so hard to believe that I am not having real feelings for your daughter?"

"Name three reasons that made you fell for her? Do not include the sex!" Ellis interrupted what she was doing and looked at him waiting for his answer.

But she didn't have to wait too long, because Derek already spoke "She knows how to be a good friend and how to support them in better and worse, she is sensitive, she makes me smile just listening her, I get comfort only if she hugs me and I think these should be at least enough for you to love her too!"

"Don't you dare to judge my feelings for my daughter! You have no right to do it and you have no idea what you are saying."

"Dr. Webber, I have all the respect for you as a doctor, because you were my teacher too once, but as a mother... is that hard to love your daughter? To show her that she means something to you?"

"Dr. Shepherd, this isn't your business. I have my reasons; now please leave!"

Derek stood there for a few moments looking at her with shocked by the cold attitude that Ellis shows when it comes to her own daughter. He turned around to leave, but stopped and looked back at her "Our relationship is strictly personal and outside this hospital" He didn't wait for her answer and left the office.

He felt relieved and much better after he told all these to Ellis; probably this was the reason for his smile. It was sad to see a mother's feelings for a daughter; now he understood Meredith better and her wish to leave the town. But he was feeling better now that he told Ellis about his feelings for Meredith.

He was far away gone with his thoughts and he didn't even saw Mark joining his walk.

"What happened in there? Why are you smiling?" Mark had seen him coming out from Ellis's office.

"Hey Mark! I talked to her"

Mark chuckled "Don't tell me she gave you her blessing?"

Derek looked at him smiling "Of course not! But I made it clear to her that my relationship with her daughter is serious"

"Don't get me wrong Der, but you have a weird pleasure to get involved in painful relationships"

"This is not painful Mark"

Mark just shrugged.


	27. Confessions

Later that day Derek headed to the surgical floor for a last minute surgery. He was leaning against the wall, checking his cell-phone, when the door opened and a familiar silhouette appeared in front of him. Immediately he took his eyes from what he was doing and fixed them on the blond that had just stepped in. She turned her back on him, trying to act professional as Richard recommended them. But this thing was impossible for Derek to do it especially because they were alone in there, so he came right behind her, slipping an arm around her waist and buried the face in her neck breathing in.

"Dr. Shepherd" Meredith protested, but giggling in the same time because of the shivers that Derek's breath on her neck was giving her.

Derek didn't seem bothered by that and started to kiss her neck, "Yes, Dr. Grey"

"This is inappropriate ... totally unprofessional"

"But very tempting, isn't it?"

Meredith giggled and tried to move away from him, but his arm blocked her.

"It's too tempting ... and dangerous. I had Richard stalking me all day... I can still feel his breath on my neck"

"Oh, that is my breath" Derek was having now both arms around her and his mouth hovering over her neck "And this is my kiss"

He started to kiss it again

"Derek" groaned and turned around to face him. She wrapped the arms around his neck and gave him a quick kiss "Why are you so happy?"

"Why wouldn't I be happy? I am alone in elevator with my beautiful girlfriend, which by the way, I am so happy to see her after so many hours"

Meredith gave him another quick kiss and then she let his neck go and turned around smiling.

When the door jingled, they let their hands go and in the next second the door opened.

Richard was standing there and seeing Derek and Meredith alone in elevator and with smiling faces, he stepped in without taking his eyes from them. He stayed there like that until he reached on the floor where he was supposed to get off. During the ride, Meredith and Derek were trying to control themselves from smiling and were trying to avoid looking at Richard or at each other.

Meredith stepped out on the same floor with Richard and walked in the opposite direction.

Shortly after her break up from Derek, she felt her phone beeping. She took it out from pocket and saw a new text message.

"_He is indeed a stalker :)"_

Meredith laughed and typed the answer _"I told you so!"_

After another few moments, her phone beeped again _"But I am still going to meet you at 6" _

"_Don't you dare to miss!" _Meredith replayed fast.

"_No chance for that to happen. I love you!"_

Meredith smiled happy and typed back _"Me too"_

Derek walked out from hospital looking around desperately. He spotted his car and the person who was standing next to it. Just then he sighs with relief.

"Meredith, what are you doing here? I've been looking for you for over half an hour"

Meredith walked up to him shivering "And I am waiting for you for over half an hour, but the technology blew me off" she said showing him her cell-phone.

Derek smiled and rubbed first her arms "I'll warm you, don't worry!" and then he wanted to take her in his arms, but Meredith pulled back.

"Let's be professional Derek"

Derek looked at her weird "Why?"

"Richard asked us to be discreet at hospital, remember?"

"Meredith, we are outside the hospital and off duty, so come here and stop worry" he wrapped his arms around her and brought her body tight to his.

Meredith gave him a quick kiss and then she removed his arms from her "Let's go! I don't want to appear on the nurses' news tomorrow"

Derek shook his head and unlocked the car opening then the door for her.

He got in on the driver seat and leaned on her for one more kiss. Meredith accepted it, so Derek fell back satisfied and turned the key in ignition. "I thought that we don't have to hide anymore"

"We don't have to hide from Richard and Ellis anymore, but we still have to hide from the rest of the medical staff"

Derek shook his head and drove away.

"I'm sorry Derek!"

Derek gave her a glance smiling and took her hand in his.

-------------------

"Where are we going?" She asked after some time, noticing that he wasn't driving on the known road.

Derek ran his hand through her hair without taking the eyes from road "To make some confessions"

"Oh so, I am finally going to find out your secrets?"

Derek just smiled at her and paid attention to road.

He soon stopped the car on docks.

---------------------------

Meredith wrapped her arms around Derek and snuggled in his arms.

"Now you are in mood for cuddling?" Derek wrapped his arms around her, leaning on railings with the back to water.

"I'm always in mood for cuddling"

"Earlier you weren't"

Meredith raised the head and looked up at him "Derek please!"

Derek cupped her face and kissed her lips, placing then her head back on him.

"I had a great day today... a heart transplant, I didn't see my mother all day, right now I am on a ferry boat with my boyfriend, my mom is leaving to Africa" She looked up at him smiling "Isn't the like all of the sudden beautiful?"

Derek chuckled and gave her one more kiss. "It is more beautiful now"

"Did you have the bad luck to bump into my mother?"

"I did"

Meredith's smile disappeared and took a worried look "And?"

"And we had a small chat" he answered her smiling.

Meredith raised an eyebrow "A chat? About what?"

"About her beautiful daughter" Derek answered her in the same cheerful tone.

"Seriously Derek, what did you talk about?"

"About you… About us… I had to talk to her after that kiss, don't you think?"

"And she didn't kill you"

Derek laughed and shook his head "As you can see, she didn't"

"And you didn't kill her"

"You can call her"

"I trust you!" she leaned on him looking over the water and enjoying the warmth of his arms around her. "Now tell me your secrets"

"I don't have secrets"

Meredith looked at him with an eyebrow raised "Seriously"

"Seriously, I don't have secrets"

"Then why did you leave your family and moved here?"

Derek smiled and rubbed her cheek with the thumb "That is not a secret"

"Tell me then"

"I had a fiance"

Meredith pulled away from his arms and looked at him "You had"

"I had"

"Is she...dead?" Meredith asked him a little hesitant.

Derek smiled and pulled her back to him "She is not dead. She is probably very happy and screwing many men"

"Oh... oh so this is why she 'was'"

"That's right and this is why I met you; I needed a change and to stay away from Addison"

"Addison… So she is the one I should be afraid of if she will ever show up here"

"I hope she won't show up and you definitely shouldn't be afraid of her"

"How long have you been together?"

"10years"

"10 years?! And you say I shouldn't be afraid if she shows up?"

Derek took her face in his hands again to kiss it "That's right. So stop freaking out!"

"Why didn't you get married sooner?"

"Because there was never enough time to prepare the wedding, so we were delaying it very often. Thank God we didn't do it otherwise I would have spent a lot of money with an attorney for divorce"

"And I shouldn't be worried"

"No worry for you"

Meredith wrapped her arms around him again and kissed him "You are mine now"

Derek's eyes were sparkling hearing her saying that "I am all yours"

"Good"

----------------------

The ferryboat soon arrived at docks.

"Where do you want to go from here?" Derek asked her.

"Over your place"

"Let's go then"

------------------------

Derek unlocked the door and let Meredith to step in first. It was already dark outside when they got there, so they found the apartment in dark and complete silence.

Derek turned on the lights and made their way in living room.

"It's weird here without Doc" Meredith took off her jacket and placed it on couch taking then a look around her.

"Yeah, it is"

"I missed him" Meredith sighed and took a seat on couch.

In the meantime, Derek took off his jacket too and then came to seat next to her. He put an arm around her and kissed her temple "I miss him too"

"I used to be his nanny, remember?"

Derek smiled remembering the method he used to make Meredith to stay longer with him and more often. He pulled her to him and both of them laid down, Derek holding Meredith on top of him in his arms.

"I wonder how is he doing?"

"Mr. Levy, told me a few days ago that the kids kept the name of Doc and that he is their new best friend, so I am sure he is very happy"

Meredith sighed heavy and suddenly got sad "Did I tell you that Alex and I had a dog when we were in high school?"

"No, you didn't"

"Yeah. We named him Romeo"

"Romeo? Nice!"

Meredith let out a giggle remembering Romeo "Yeah, we named him like this because all the dog females from our neighborhood were in heats after him"

"Oh I see now" Derek laughed amused "Who housed him?"

"We found him behind a trash can near a cinema and Alex took him home. We weren't allowed to bring pets in our houses, so he had to hide it in his room. Everything was great for about... 1 month I think until his little sister, who was 8 years old at that time, was continuing to hear strange noises coming from his room. She told her parents that there is a mouse in Alex's room and while we were at school they called someone to get rid of it."

"I suppose they weren't very happy to find out his little secret"

"You bet they weren't. I had to take him and hide him and because my aunt was almost never home and my uncle was coming late I was able to keep him for three months until he found my aunts shoes on hallway and peed in them. You cannot even imagine the monstrous scandal that came that night."

Derek burst into laugh at that "I bet you didn't want to admit that you peed in her shoes to defend the dog."

Meredith started to laugh too and slapped playful his chest.

"And that was his end?"

Meredith suddenly got sad and let out a sigh "He died three years later hit by car"

"Oh, I am sorry!" Derek rubbed her arm as comfort and kissed her forehead.

After a few minutes of silence, while Meredith recovered from the sadness produced by that memory, she looked up at Derek "Is she beautiful?"

"Who?"

"Addison"

Derek brought her face up to him and kissed her "No"

"Don't lie to me, Derek"

"She is but I don't see the reason you asked me this for if you knew the answer"

"Did you love her?"

"There were 10 years so yeah... it was some love!"

"Do you still love her?"

"I shouldn't have told you about her"

"No, you did right that you told me. This way in case she will ever show up here to know what to expect of. Do you have any photo of hers?"

Derek lifted her and then he stood up too. He took her face in his hands looking into her eyes "The reason I came here for was to forget her, so no I don't have any photo of hers and you should stop worry about her because she has no reason to come here for and if... I repeat...if she shows up here and I will have the chance to brag with my new beautiful and sexy girlfriend and I am sure she will die of envy to see me now with a woman more beautiful and sexier than her" he kissed softly her lips and then her temple.

"So you don't love her anymore"

Derek groaned and just pulled her into his arms "I can't love two women at once and now you are the one that I love"

"Ok"

"Are you feeling better now?"

"A little, yeah"

Derek smiled and gave her one more kiss "Good, now let me make something for dinner"

"I'll help you" Meredith followed him up and took his hand.

"Are you sure?"

"Very sure"

**---------------**

**And yes, Meredith is going to help him :D**

**Thank you all for your reviews! It means a lot to me your feedback!**

**One more update will be up soon!**


	28. Incendiary sex

They went in kitchen and Derek first washed his hands, while Meredith was waiting for him to see what they have to do.

She leaned her back on counter watching him "So.. what are we cooking?"

Derek wiped his hands and came to her smiling and gave her a quick kiss "It depends on how hungry you are"

"Hmm... I am not very hungry."

"Ok then, we'll make some roasted chicken, what do you say?"

"It sounds great and not very complicated."

Derek let out chuckle and kissed her "Let's get started then!"

Derek went over to fridge and opened it, taking first a careful look inside of it and then started to fill his arms with different ingredients.

"Don't just stand there if you want to learn something" Derek looked back at Meredith, who was still leaned on counter watching him, and motioned her to come and help him.

Meredith took the chicken, the ham, the lemon and the other ingredients from him and put them on counter, while Derek closed the fridge and went to bring the rest of the things he needed to started cooking.

While Derek was preparing the chicken washing it, Meredith started to peel the garlic.

"Aren't you using a cooking book?" Meredith asked him curious seeing how well he was handling the kitchen work, especially because she had never stayed with him while he was cooking.

"I'm too good at this so I don't need one! Those books are for those people who walk in kitchen once a year and they use it just to see how to make a sandwich" he said it smiling and as a teas to her cooking skills.

Meredith got his message and she just rolled the eyes smiling.

Derek charged her with the chopping, while he peeled the potatoes.

"Thin slices Meredith!" Derek told her when he saw her taking the ham and sticking the knife in it.

"I know Derek!" Meredith replayed annoyed.

"Do you want me to do it?"

"No" Meredith protested even more annoyed now "I am a surgeon and I can cut in thin slices."

"Ok" Derek smiled seeing her how determined she was to do it by herself.

Derek slashed the thigh meat and let Meredith to push the peeled lemon into the cavity together with some other ingredients.

"Wow, this makes you think on nasty things!" Meredith was almost laughing amused by the procedure she was doing in that moment.

Derek, who was standing right behind her helping her to stuff in the chicken started to laugh and tightened a little his arms around hers "You have such a dirty mind!"

"I think I like this cooking work."

"I bet you do!" Derek kissed her cheek and moved her aside to take the chicken from her and to put it in the preheated tray.

Meredith helped him and put the potatoes and the seasonings over them, then Derek put the tray in oven. "There you go!" he closed the door to it and looked at Meredith smiling "40 minutes and then we'll eat your first cooked meal."

Meredith smiled proud "The chicken is not ready yet, so save the compliments for later"

"Hey, I supervised you so I am sure it is delicious" Derek gave her a kiss.

He started to clean around the kitchen, while Meredith had taken a seat on table watching him.

Meredith stood up and went over to sink where Derek was washing the dishes and wrapped her arms around him waist.

"You look sexy in kitchen!" She complimented him with a seducing tone.

Derek turned off the water and turned around to face her. He took a towel and wiped the hands, then he surrounded Meredith's waist with his arms and pulled her for a kiss. "You should stay with me more often in kitchen. This way you can learn something and keep admiring me in the same time!"

Derek continued then the kiss, and Meredith moved her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss, transforming it this way into a hot and passionate one.

Meredith let her hands slip down his back and then to sneak under is shirt starting to run along his back.

"What... are you... doing... Meredith?"

"Nothing" she answered without breaking the kiss.

Derek copied her gesture and soon his hands were under her blouse too unhooking her bra. He grabbed her waist and took her on table leaning her on back and getting on top of her.

"We shouldn't be doing this" Derek told her when he stood up to take off his shirt.

"I know" Meredith giggled and stood up too to take off the blouse and the bra that Derek had already opened up.

He then picked her up and placed her legs around his waist to carry her to his room.

After a round of making out when they felt their own orgasms wash over them, Derek collapsed on bed next to her.

"Don't you feel the smell of burn?" Meredith asked him breathing heavily as turned around to rest on him.

"I do, but it must from our brains" Derek laughed and took her in his arms.

"Or from our chicken"

In the next second, Derek pushed her away and stood up "Shit! That's right!" he pulled on his boxers and stormed out from bedroom.

The entire apartment was covered with a dense and heavy smoke. He went right away in kitchen and turned off the gases, then he opened the oven and an even denser smoke came out from it, making Derek to cough.

Meredith dressed with the clothes she found in bedroom and then came out too and picked up the rest of them from around the house. Then she opened all the windows from there to aerate the apartment.

"Damn it! How long have we been in there?" Derek asked annoyed as he was coming out from kitchen.

"Umm... more than 40 minutes I guess." Meredith was about to burst into laugh.

Derek came over to her smiling and put his arms around her "Are you finding this amusing? We could have burned down the apartment because of you."

"Hey, don't blame me, because you carried me in bedroom."

Somebody knocked on door, so Derek pulled apart from Meredith and put the pants back on to go and answer the door.

"Yes" Derek opened the door and saw a middle age man standing in front of it.

"I'm Mr. Martinez, I live across the hallway... Is everything alright in here? Because I saw smoke coming out from under your door"

"Yeah... It was a small accident but there is nothing serious"

Mr. Martinez noticed that Derek was just half dressed and Meredith who was somewhere near them and nodded as if he had understood the reason of the accident "Ok then! Have a good evening and ... be careful!" he told him smiling and turned around to leave.

"Thank you for stopping by!" Derek smiled a little embarrassed realizing that his neighbor knew what had happened there. He closed the door and came back to Meredith laughing.

The door opened and Mark walked in and as he did that he started to cough. "What in the hell happened here?"

Meredith and Derek looked at each other almost ready to laugh.

"We cooked" Derek answered him amused.

"We? Do you mean you let her in kitchen?" Mark snapped at them.

"Don't worry, everything is fine and we'll get rid of this smell right away!" Derek tried to defend Meredith and to calm Mark down.

Mark went to check the kitchen and as he was looking around he saw something on floor. He bent down and picked up Meredith's bra "Incendiary sex I suppose!" He showed them the bra smiling.

Derek came over and grabbed the bra from him smiling.

Mark shook his head and took a serious face "From now on if you want to cook, go over her place and burn it down or take your own house, because the oven is sealed"

Mark went to bathroom leaving them to clean the kitchen.

For their dinner they ordered some pizza and while they were eating it, Mark was making nasty comments about their incident.

Later that night Mark went to sleep and Meredith and Derek followed his example.

"I'm not in the mood for sex anymore!" Derek sighed as he laid down in bed.

Meredith snuggled into him and rested her head on him "Me neither!"

"Good, then let's have some rest!" Derek wrapped his arms around her and kissed her "Good night!"

"Good night, Derek!"

"What would you say if you would move in together?" Derek asked her later but knowing that she is still awake.

"In here or in my house?"

"In our house!"

Meredith lifted up her head and sustained it on her hand "Our house?!"

"Yes"

"We could move in my house, if you don't want to live with Mark anymore!"

Derek rolled over to face her and started to play with her hair "Your house is crowded and I don't want to live with Mark or your friends. I want to live just with you!"

"I don't know Derek!"

"Meredith, we spend every night together and or I or you don't have clothes to change the next day. Let's move in together, just the two us!"

"I don't know, Derek!"

Derek leaned on her and kissed her "At least think about this, ok?"

"Ok!" Meredith sighed and put the head down on pillow.

It took her long to fall asleep after Derek's proposal. For an unknown yet reason, Meredith was not thrilled with his idea.


	29. Who's that guy?

**N/A: Thank you all for your comments. I love to read them and trust me, it helps me a lot with the writing. "The chicken was just pleading to be burned." This was the funniest comment ever, lol. Thanks so much for that.**

**I hope you will like this one too. The drama will be present for while, but not for so long.**

**-----------------------**

Derek started to wake up the next morning. "Mer"

Because no response came from Meredith, Derek started to nudge her sleepy "Mer"

This time Meredith answered him with a groan.

"What time is it?" Derek asked her lazy without opening his eyes.

"I don't know; the alarm didn't go on so we can sleep longer."

"Fine" Derek snuggled into her back and buried the face in her hair.

Meredith turned around to face him and moved into his arms "I'm thirsty"

Because the glass of water was on Derek's bedside, he turned to take it from the nightstand. This time he opened the eyes and glanced the clock too. In the next second he jumped out of bed "It's 6.15! Wake up!"

"What?" Meredith also jumped in her sit panicked "How did we oversleep?"

"I think I forgot to set the alarm last night!"

"You forgot?!" Meredith jumped out of the bed and picked up her clothes "I'm going to kill you Derek, and I am going to do it before Bailey to kill me!"

"Calm down Meredith, we still have time"

"I get in shower first" Meredith hurried to get to door first.

"We'll shower together" Derek was right behind her and followed her closely on her way out from bedroom.

"No way! We are already running late."

"Don't worry, not even if you beg me I won't have sex with you" Derek chuckled to tease her.

Meredith looked back at him with a glare.

On their way to bathroom, they saw Mark in living room, reading the newspaper and drinking his coffee.

"Why didn't you wake us up, if you saw that we are not coming out?" Derek stopped to snap at him.

Mark put the paper down and looked up at him smiling "And then to listen your lectures because I busted into your make out session"

Derek just sniffed at him and went after Meredith, who was already in bathroom.

Meredith took a quick shower, while Derek brushed his teeth and arranged his hair, and then she stepped out of the shower naked, making Derek to smirk at her.

"Don't even think about it!" Meredith cut him right away and covered herself with a towel.

Derek didn't let himself scared by Meredith's tone and before stepping in shower he slapped her butt.

Meredith reacted immediately, but it was too late because Derek had got under the shower.

The only personal things that Meredith was having at Derek's, were a toothbrush and a hairbrush. She did her toilet while Derek was in shower, and then she started to get dress.

"My clothes smell as smoke!" Meredith said grimacing as she smelled herself.

"We cooked, remember?" Derek chuckled kissing her forehead. "See? If we would move together we wouldn't longer have these kinds of worries!"

Meredith faked a smiled and walked out of the bathroom.

"Have you thought about it?" Derek asked her following in his bedroom.

"No Derek, because I was too busy to sleep!"

"Come on Mer! You don't have to think about this a whole year. I just asked you to move together in our own house, not to marry me or to have kids."

"I'll think about it, now let's go!" Meredith grabbed her jacket and dragged Derek out of the bedroom.

"Ok, but think until tonight."

Meredith rolled her eyes annoying without Derek to see her and walked to door.

"I think that was your fastest shower, so far!" Mark was coming out of his room and saw them ready to go out on door. He needed to make a nasty comment regarding their shower and the fact that they overslept.

"Shut up Mark!" Derek replayed sharply and followed Meredith outside.

Derek drove Meredith to hospital and before going on separate ways, Derek dared to give her a quick kiss on temple. Meredith didn't protest and just smiled.

----------------

"Morning" Meredith came in locker room saluting her friends hurried.

When she passed by Alex, he started to follow her keeping his nose directed to her.

Meredith felt him behind them so she stopped all of the sudden and Alex bumps into her.

"Did you lose anything, Alex?" She asked him as she stared to walk to her locker again.

"Just my smell!" Alex replied joking. "Where in the world did you sleep last night? Under a bridge and you warmed yourself in front of a fire?"

This caused a series of giggles to all the persons who were there at that hour and a deadly glare from Meredith to Alex.

"Hey, I was joking!" Alex spoke fast seeing her so pissed off. "Now seriously, what did you do? Did you get a second job as fireman?"

Meredith couldn't help it not to laugh. "No...Derek and I cooked!"

"Ohh" came from all her friends knowing what that meant.

"Cool! I bet Sloan is very happy!"

Meredith looked at Alex with a serious face and took him aside so that nobody else could hear what she wanted to say.

"He wants us to move in together"

"Who?"

"Derek"

"But you already live together"

"He wants to be just the two of us in our home"

"So?"

"So, I don't think I am ready"

"Ready for what? For..."

"The assignments people!" Bailey's arrival made Alex to stop and both of them joined the group. "I can see that you didn't hurry to come for work today, Grey!"

Meredith didn't say anything and continued to change into her scrubs.

"Karev, go with Burke, O'Mailey and Stevens you're with me, Yang- Shepherd and Grey- Anthony!"

"Who?" Meredith asked confused.

"Dr. Steve Anthony, he is a neurosurgeon," Bailey answered clarifying her puzzle with a smirk, knowing why she has another neurosurgeon.

Bailey walked out followed by Izzie and George.

Alex and Christina were staring at Meredith waiting for a reaction from her.

"What?" Meredith snapped at them, already annoyed by the situation created since Bailey found out about her and Derek. "Let's go!" she slammed the door from her locker and grabbed her lab coat from bench.

Neither Alex nor Christina commented and followed her out.

Christina and Meredith headed up on neurology to look for their attendings.

"What's with all this motion from hospital?" Meredith questioned as they were stepping out of the elevator. "Many doctors and many flowers bouquets! Did someone die?"

"I think your mother is leaving today, if I remember right"

"Oh" Meredith understood now the reason. Everybody was saying goodbye from Ellis. "Shame on me; I forgot the flowers home," Meredith joked.

Christina looked at her and rolled her eyes "We don't like our moms! Can we switch them between us?"

"Hmm" Meredith looked at smiling as they were walking to the nurses' station "I think I am better without one. Thanks anyway!"

Christina shrugged.

"But I can offer you mine… You can be a girl with two moms"

"Very generous of you!" Christina smiled and nodded.

Christina knew that Derek is somewhere around there, so she decided to wait for him and the nurses' station. Because Meredith didn't know who to look for, she asked a nurse to page him, but apparently neither that nurse knew Dr. Anthony.

Meredith said to herself to wait for Derek and maybe he will be able to help her to find her attending.

Both were leaning over the counter.

"Who's that guy?" Christina suddenly got her look gazed over a man, who judging by his lab coat was a doctor.

"I ... don't ...know, but..."

"Yeah"

Both of them were charmed and speechless.

"I always had a thing for blonde guys" Meredith was rapt by his view.

"I never had a thing for blond guys, but I sure have for this one!"

"Do you think he has blues eyes?"

"I don't know" Christina was trying to pay attention to each detail of that guy.

"If he has...I am dumping Derek"

"Wait and see what's happening, don't dumping him for nothing! I might be the lucky one… besides, you are practically married with Derek!"

"No, I am not!" Meredith broke the gaze for a second to look at Christina.

"I say that we should drool after we see how the sex is."

"Do you think it can be bad?!" Meredith leaned again over the counter staring at that doctor and seductively biting her lower lip "I doubt that the sex is bad"

"He has a more charming smile than Derek" Christina pointed into his direction with the finger to sustain that what she says it's true.

"Hmm..." Meredith took a second of thinking "I don't know...I think they look-alike."

Christina sighed. "I'm in love!"

Meredith sighed too. "Me too"

"I hope that you two are drooling after me and that you, Meredith, are in love with me."

Derek brought them out from their gaze and made them turn around.

Meredith was smiling innocent at him, while Christina was rolling her eyes.

"So... am I that lucky today two have both of you working with me today?" Derek asked them cheerful placing a hand on each of their back.

"Actually, you are just half lucky" Meredith told him "To have Christina"

"Then what are you doing here?"

"I am looking for Dr. Anthony. He is my new neurosurgeon attendant."

"What? Why? I have Bailey's interns!" Derek suddenly burst nervous.

"You still have them... less me"

"Richard"

Meredith nodded "Richard"

Derek shook his head and sighed. "And you are working with Dr. Anthony today?"

"Yes… Do you know him, because nobody seems to know him around here?"

"He is new in this hospital and I think you already know him" Derek motioned to the doctor that had charmed them earlier.

Meredith and Christina turned around shocked to find out, who that guy was, but shocked in different ways. Meredith was feeling a little embarrassed for being busted by Derek; on the other hand, Christina didn't feel any shame and continued to eat that doctor with her look.

Even if he was trying to make this scene look amusing, Meredith could still see that he wasn't happy with the idea of Meredith working with Dr. Anthony, especially after what he had heard from them.

"Do you want me to introduce you to him?" Derek asked her.

"No, it's fine! I have to go now; I'll see you later ok?"

Derek nodded and together with Christina they watched her as she was going to introduce herself to that doctor.

He had just finished a talk with another doctor, when Meredith reached to him.

"Dr. Anthony?"

Steve stopped his track and looked at Meredith "That's me"

"I'm Dr. Grey and I will be your intern for today"

Steve nodded and started to walk again "So you are the famous daughter." He said it without looking at her and with a little sarcasm in his voice.

Meredith got his message and started to walk behind him. If earlier she was seeing him like a second McDreamy, now she was thinking that he might be a McBastard. "I'm not the famous… I'm just an intern."

"Whatever; you're still not going to scrub in any of my surgeries today!"

"I'll scrub in whenever you think that I deserve. For now, what do you want me to do?"

"Running labs, writing charts, prepare my patients for surgery and ... we'll find more work for you Dr. Grey"

Meredith sighed and shook the head discreet.


	30. You can burn down your own kitchen

"Hey Meredith, wait up!"

Meredith stopped her track and turned around to see Alex, who was running after her. "Hey"

"Hey Alex"

"Are you going to lunch?"

"Yes"

"Great, I'll join you then"

They walked in cafeteria to buy their food and when Alex picked up his tray to go find a table, Meredith stopped him.

"Wait"

Alex turned around looking curious at her.

"I want to talk to you, but not here"

Alex smiled understanding what she had to say to him "About the moving huh?"

"Yeah, so? Will you come with me?"

"Sure"

They put the trays back down on counter and picked up the food and the drinks.

"The basement I suppose" Alex told her as they were walking out from there.

Meredith just nodded and headed together to their regular spot.

They took a seat on a stretcher and unpacked the sandwiches.

"So you don't want to move in with Derek! Why?"

Meredith swallowed the first bit from her sandwich and sighed "I don't know... it's like... I don't know..."

"A marriage?"

Meredith looked at him "He is said it's not a proposal and he is not asking me to have kids, but still...it's like..."

"You would be married" Alex completed her.

"Yeah. It's a serious commitment and ...I'm scared! What if this will not work out and we'll discover that we are not the one for each other?"

"And do you want to find out this after many wasted years?"

Meredith just shrugged and took another bite from her sandwich.

"You are already living together; the only different thing will be that you will be alone and you will have all the sex you want, without interruptions and as loud as you want!"

Meredith looked at him and grinned.

"See? You are thrilled by this idea. And as he said it... you are not going to get married, so if this will end then... will end and that's it."

Meredith opened the mouth to say something else, but Alex guessing that it's another doubt of hers so he didn't let her say a word.

"If you are afraid that you will lose him, then you should try not to let this happen. This is the way that a relationship goes; you take risks, otherwise you will never find out how this would end"

Meredith looked at him during his entire speech with an eyebrow raised and a small smile on her face. "Since when is Alex Karev, an expert in relationships, because as I remember, Izzie is your first stable partner."

"People change Meredith and for your information I've always been an expert in this kind of things, just that I never wanted a commitment."

"So you are committed to Izzie now?"

"Let's call it a try, ok?"

"I didn't know that love can be so complicated." Meredith sighed and took a sip from her coffee.

"Yeah" Alex agreed with the same sighed as hers.

"Promise you won't laugh at me?"

Alex looked at her and nodded.

"No Alex, promise with words"

"Fine, I promise I won't laugh"

"I am going to miss you"

Alex chuckled and slapped her back a little too hard making her to choke with the food. "Sorry!" he apologized and rubbed gently the spot he had hit. "Are you going to move from Seattle?"

Meredith looked at him and shook her head "No, of course not! My mom left, so there is no reason for me to leave"

"Then why are you going to miss me? Do you think he will keep you caged?"

"No Alex" Meredith jumped nervous seeing how Alex was making fun of her "But we've been living together for many years now and... I don't know... I got used to have you around all the time"

Meredith saw a how his smile was growing almost ready to burst into laugh; she pointed the finger threatening to him "Don't"

Alex pulled her into his arms and hugged her "You can move somewhere nearby from us"

"Yeah" Meredith sighed and straightened up in her sit.

"How is on neuro without Derek?"

Meredith groaned at his question and rolled her eyes "It's another person who judges me by my last name. His calling me the famous daughter"

Alex rubbed her arm as comfort.

Meanwhile, Derek walked in patio looking for Meredith. He hadn't seen her since she left with Steve, so he was curious to see how it went so far and especially to find out her opinion about him, remembering how she and Christina were drooling after him.

In there, he saw just Izzie, Christina and George, so he walked over to them.

"Hey, have you seen Meredith? She is not answering on phone" he asked them still looking around the patio.

"No, we were supposed to meet here, but she didn't show up." Izzie answered shaking her head. "But Alex is missing too, so I they might be together... as always."

Derek didn't pay attention to Izzie's jealous tone and nodded "I think I know where they are" He turned around and left.

"Are you still jealous on them, Izzie?" George asked her.

"No"

"It seems to me that you are. Isn't it so, Christina?" George looked over to Christina for her approval.

"Mind your own business, George!" Izzie glared him and threw a chip in him.

"I don't know about her, but Shepherd sure is jealous" Christina's eyes were still ahead watching Derek walking out from there.

"Why?" Izzie asked.

"Haven't you seen the new neurosurgeon? Meredith's attending?"

"No! What did I miss?" This caught Izzie's interest entirely.

"A very hot doctor" Christina smirked at her.

"And Meredith has heats for him or he has heats for her?"

"I don't know about him, but Meredith and I sure have"

"And Derek knows about this?"

"He heard us this morning and now he can't find either of them"

"Meredith seems to have a thing for neurosurgeons, huh?" Izzie leaned back in her seat smiling.

-----------------

Indeed, Derek found Meredith where he thought he will and fortunately with Alex, not with Steve.

Meredith was leaning on Alex playing with his phone, while Alex was reading some notes.

When he saw Derek coming, Alex pushed Meredith away from him. "I'm going to leave you two alone." Alex jumped up from the stretcher and walked towards to Derek.

"Why are you hiding here?" Derek asked them as he was passing by Alex.

"I'll see you later" Alex told them keeping the walking.

"Thank you Alex!" Meredith shouted after him and Alex responded her waving a hand in air.

Derek took Alex's place on stretcher. "So why are you hiding here?" He repeated the previous question.

"We weren't hiding. We were ... just talking ... in private."

"Let me guess, about the moving."

Meredith didn't say anything, she just looked at him.

Derek shook his head disappointed.

"I made a decision regarding this" Meredith told him.

Derek looked at her waiting to find out her decision.

"I want to move in with you."

Surprisingly, Derek didn't seem happy to hear that, contrariwise he shook his head once again disappointed.

"What? Did you change your mind?" She asked him seeing his reaction.

"I didn't! I still want us to move in together, but I wanted this to be your decision not Alex's."

"Derek, Alex and I just talked about this, but the decision is mine."

"Then you needed his approval?" Derek asked sharply, which made Meredith to look worried at him.

"Are you still having a problem with my relationship with Alex?"

"No" This time Derek answered quietly, knowing the he had overreacted. "I just wish that one day you will come to me too for advices and confessions"

"I will, Derek! One day, now... Alex ... is Alex so..."

"What was his argument that made you decide to move in with me?" Derek cut her ramble.

Meredith smiled and looked down biting her lower lip "He said that we can burn down our own kitchen."

Derek started to laugh and pulled her to him and kissed her cheek. "I was thinking to use this one too, if you would have needed an impulse."

Meredith smiled and pulled herself away from him. "There still a problem with this, Derek…" She looked at him serious.

"What is it?"

"I took roommates with me and Alex to help me pay the costs of housing, so..."

Derek understood what she was referring at and covered her lips with a finger kissing them after that "This should be your last worry!"

"Ok"

"Ok"

"So we are moving in."

"We are" Derek nodded and pulled her back to him. "How is it going with Dr. Anthony?"

At that question Meredith groaned.

"What?" Derek asked her curious.

"He makes me hate my name even more than I already do."

Derek smiled satisfied without Meredith to notice that. "So, no surgeries for you today?"

"No! I hate him!"

"I thought you love him."

Meredith looked up at Derek and saw him smiling. "No, I don't."

"You loved him this morning."

"I never loved this guy not even for a second"

Derek gave her a look like he doesn't believe her.

"Ok! I did for a second… actually I think it was less than a second."

Derek chuckled and leaned to her to kiss her.

"So I am still the only one."

"You're still the only one." Meredith confirmed smiling.

"Good… I'm glad to hear this!"

Meredith checked her watch and sighed "I have to go back to my nightmare."

"Nightmare?" Derek smiled "I like this nickname… At least you are not calling him ... McDreamy."

Meredith laughed and kissed him. "I have only one McDreamy… There can't be two." She stood up and gave him one more look. "It has to be in the same neighborhood."

"The house?! You want the house to be in the same neighborhood with yours?"

Meredith smiled and turned around to leave.

"Maybe we'll have the luck not to find one there" Derek shouted after her smiling.

"We'll do our best to find one" Meredith shouted back without looking behind her at him.

Stepping in the elevator, Meredith met Richard.

"Hello Meredith"

"Hey"

"Your mom is leaving in about half an hour"

"Ok" Meredith nodded not knowing very well what she was supposed the say at that.

"You should go and tell her goodbye, Meredith"

"I can't! I need some time away from her… we both need some time away from each other"

Richard dropped the subject, "How is it going with Dr. Anthony?"

Meredith didn't want look like she was complaining about this, so she just nodded "Good"

"Any good surgery?"

"No" _Not for me anyway_ she smiled to herself. "I'm moving in with Derek!"

This had nothing to do with their talk about her new attending, but she felt that she has to tell him.

Richard didn't say anything; he just nodded and stepped out from elevator when the doors opened.

Meredith got down on the next floor.

Later that day, she was writing down in a chart when she heard her cell phone beeping. She took it out from pocket and saw a new text message.

"_Apartment or house?"_ signed Derek.

"_House" _ Meredith's answer went quickly.

After just a few second Derek replied _"I thought so"_

Meredith smiled and put the phone back in her pocket.


	31. What happened?

At the end of the shift, Meredith went over to OR. 3, where Derek and Christina were performing an emergent surgery. Alex was on call, caught down in pit and just Izzie and Christina were ready to go home. Because Dr. Anthony ran her off all day, Meredith was now exhausted and depressed and all that she wanted was to wait for Derek to go home with him.

The gallery was empty; she was the only watcher for their surgery, so she took a seat in the first row.

Since she first stepped in, Derek noticed her and looked up at her with a wink.

As she was sitting there, watching their surgery, the door opened and its sound made Meredith to take her look away from there to see who stepped in.

"Dr. Anthony" Meredith said a little annoyed to see that she has to stand him again.

Steve took a seat next to her keeping his eyes down in the OR. "A brain aneurysm? I can see that you are interested in neurology"

This time he gave up on his serious and harsh tone, and spoke to her as if they were friends.

"Yeah" Meredith didn't felt like she owes him too many explications for what she is doing.

"I am sorry for the way I behaved today" Steve looked at her and tried to make her face him. "I was wrong about you and I am very sorry for this!"

"It's fine, I understand!" Meredith answered him coldly, still not looking at him.

"Can I invite you out for a drink?"

His question made her to look at him surprised. "I don't think it's a good idea"

"I am new in town and you are the first person I've met here, so I was thinking that maybe you can introduce me to this town." Steve was not giving up.

"Sorry! It can't be." Meredith looked back down in the OR and answered him right away and with a very serious tone.

"Is it because I am attending?"

"I am not interested, that's all." Meredith continued to keep the look away from him and the calm in her voice. Although it was very hard to do it, since his eyes had fixed her and she was feeling them analyzing her body.

"Nobody has to know that you went out with an attending!"

This annoyed her terrible and made her turn him a glare "I am still not interested, so if you don't have anything professional to tell me about, then shut up!"

Steve smiled as if he was satisfied to see her pissed off on him. "Do you have a boyfriend, Meredith?"

"It's Dr. Grey for you and yes, I have a boyfriend" Meredith stood up snapping at him angry and stormed out from there.

Steve stood there for a several seconds smiling and then he hurried to go after her. Looking down the hallway, he couldn't see her, so he gave up and headed to locker room to get ready for home.

Meredith hurried to go the interns' locker room, determined to wait there for Derek and Christina.

Christina showed up after about half an hour, when Meredith was lying down on a bench with the eyes closed. When she heard the door opening, she jumped up on her sit, hoping that it's not Steve.

She sighed with relief seeing Christina.

"What happened to you?" Christina asked her suspicious as she was heading to her locker.

"Nothing, what makes you believe that something happened?"

"You practically ran out from gallery"

"I didn't want to spend too much time with that doctor than it was necessary."

"Are you serious?" Christina looked up at her taking off her scrub top. "Do you want to switch the attendings?"

"I would do it more than gladly if it is possible. He is just a scum if you are asking me."

"Really? What did he do?"

Meredith didn't want to talk about what happened in gallery, so she told her just half of the truth. "My last name is Grey and I pay for it with each new attending."

"Maybe he is being an ass just now because he doesn't know you"

"I don't want to talk about him anymore, how is the guy?" Meredith asked her about their last patient, putting an end to their talk about Steve.

"He is going to live. So you are saying that the hot doctor is just hot and nothing else?"

Meredith rolled her eyes annoyed and groaned. "That's right and now stop talking about him!"

"Fine, fine… Calm down!" Christina pulled the pants on her and stood up to button them.

"I'm moving in with Derek."

"Yeah, I heard and I noticed something about this." Christina kept paying attention to her buttons. "This explains why he was so cheerful this afternoon."

"Sorry" Meredith giggled and stood up too putting the coat on her.

"What are you sorry for?"

"I know you don't like happy people"

"Oh today it was fine. He didn't ask me to smile."

"How about you and Burke? How is it going between you two?"

"I didn't feel horny lately, so it has been a while since I haven't met him."

"Are you seriously using him just for sex? You have no feelings for him?"

"Hey Meredith, not everybody falls like you so easily for someone"

"Alex did and if he did, I can assure you that you will fall too." Meredith looked at her with a smirk.

"Wanna bet that it won't happen?"

"Sure"

"Ok, if I win I don't pay you the rent for a month" Christina said.

"And if I win you will pay me double the rent"

"Deal" Christina agreed and shook their hands as agreement.

Derek walked in, when Meredith and Christina were about to leave.

"Are you ready?" he asked them.

"More than ready" Meredith's face lightened up when she saw him and leaned on him to kiss him.

"Please wait until you get home" Christina groaned and passed by them.

Derek and Meredith smiled at each other and followed Christina outside.

------------------

When they arrived home, Izzie greeted them with the dinner almost ready. Meredith excused herself and went straight in her room.

Later Derek went after her to call her down for dinner, but when he stepped in her room, he saw her laid in bed with the eyes closed.

Meredith felt him and opened the eyes. "Hey"

"Hey! Are you ok?" Derek asked her coming to her bedside.

"I am tired"

"The dinner is ready"

"I am not hungry. I will put myself in bed in a few minutes!"

Derek pushed her over, so that he can make room for himself next to her. He started to brush slowly the hair away from her forehead and bent down to her and kissed her.

"What happened in gallery with the new doctor?"

Meredith delayed the answer for a few moments lifting her head to him and kissed him.

"Nothing happened, I was just tired and I wanted to be left alone" she told him after she released his head and laid back down.

"Is he causing you troubles?"

"Well… I had to run labs, write charts the entire day and he treated me like shit just because I am Ellis's daughter."

"Do you want me to talk to him?"

"No Derek! You don't have to talk to him." Meredith snapped at him annoyed. She immediately realized that she overreacted and melted her tone "I'm sorry, I am tired and my day it wasn't too great. You don't have to talk to him, because I don't want him to believe that I am asking you for favors."

"Ok I understand. Calm down now!" Derek pulled her in his arms to comfort her.

Meredith snuggled in his arms and closed the eyes relaxing.

"I found a house" Derek told her knowing that she wasn't asleep yet.

"Already?" Meredith raised her head from his chest and looked at him.

"What can I say, I can't wait to share the same house with you" Derek smiled rubbing her cheeks.

"Let me guess, not in this neighborhood"

Derek answered her with a chuckle and a kiss.

Meredith shook her head smiling. "I heard about an available house too"

"Let me guess, in this neighborhood." Derek told her amused.

"We have the day after tomorrow off and we'll see then which house is the best."

"And we'll move in the same day if it is possible."

"Come on Derek, Mark and my roommates are not so bad."

Derek didn't answer her and just rolled on top of her starting to kiss her. Meredith welcomed his move and let her hands to run through his hair.

"Aren't …you… hungry?" Meredith asked him in the few moments that her lips were escaping from his.

"No" Derek leaned his head down to her neck making his way down slowly to her collar bones.

Meredith's fingers caught his shirt's hemline and started to pull it out to his head. Derek helped her to remove it and then he helped to remove hers.

"Meredith, Derek the dinner is ready." Izzie burst into their room. "Oh sorry, sorry, sorry!" Izzie went out as fast as she got in.

"This is why I want to move in our house as soon as possible." Derek groaned and stood up. He grabbed the shirt and pulled it back over his head.

Meredith stood up in her sit wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his back. "You should have locked the door, Derek."

"In two days I won't have to lock the door from my bedroom anymore." Derek took her hands away from him and turned around to face her. He took her face in his hands and kissed her. "We'll just have to lock the front door. Let's eat now!"

Derek took her hand and led her downstairs.

-----------------------

The next morning, Meredith woke up with a few minutes before the alarm to announce 5:00 a.m. She reached for the button to cancel the alarm and then she rolled over to Derek, who was sleeping next to her with the face turned to the other side of the bed. She stretched her legs and arms outside from covers and then moved the legs over the bed's edge.

The sun wasn't up on sky entirely, but there were no clouds and signs of rain. It was mid August, so the weather was just perfect to open the window on morning and breathe in the fresh air. That was exactly what Meredith did. She pushed the windows to open them outside and leaned over the window still too let the morning's air wake her up.

Meredith was in a good mood that morning; Derek and she talked again before going to bed about their moving and just having him with her all the time was making her to feel great. The incident with Steve from the previous evening seemed to have dissolved from her mind.

She returned in bed and crawled to Derek, leaning on his chest and reaching to kiss his cheek. Derek felt her right away, so he sneaked and arm around her waist to hold her there.

"Good morning sunshine!" Meredith whispered to his ear caressing in the same time his cheek.

Derek opened the eyes and from the second he saw her smile, he's face lighted up and greeted her with a smile too "Morning" he then brought her chin up so that he can kiss her lips softly. "What time is it?"

"It's almost 5" Meredith told him without leaving his side.

"You are up early and in a very good mood"

"Is this is a bad thing?" Meredith giggled rolling on top of him.

Derek grabbed her legs and unclosed them, placing each by his legs sides. "It's definitely not a bad thing… Strange but not bad"

"What are you saying that I am cranky in the morning?" Meredith took a pouted face.

"You are always cranky in the morning; sexy and cranky!"

"Do you prefer me cranky then?"

"I prefer you in any way that comes together with sexy"

Meredith giggled and leaned the head down to him and bitted gently his lower lip. Derek took her head in his hands to keep her mouth over his.

"So why are you in such a good mood?" Derek could not help not to ask her.

Meredith groaned annoyed by the fact that he interrupted their moment to ask her such a silly thing. "I had a good night sleep, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, my mom is in Africa, why shouldn't I be cheerful? Now you are about to ruin it so shut up and take me as I am" Meredith told him with a bossy tone and stood up a little to remove her ratty Dartmouth shirt.

"I think I like you better when you are not cranky" Derek chuckled bringing her body back down over his.

"Then stop asking question" Meredith told him as she started to kiss his neck.

Derek let her do the kissing part while he untied her trousers and started to push them away from her.

Meredith pulled apart just to take off her pants and Derek took off his shirt.

She returned to his lips, biting each of them, going then down to his neck, intensifying the small bites each time Derek was stroking her skin and her breast.

A quick knock on door and Izzie's entrance in their room, was enough for Meredith to return to her usual cranky mood.

"Are you awake, Meredith?" was everything that Izzie could say before coming in and busting them. "Omg, omg, omg!" she closed the door fast. _"I am so sorry Meredith ... Derek! Omg omg omg!" _ Izzie was hurrying her footsteps down the hall.

In the second that Izzie walked in, Meredith interrupted what she was doing and groaned. "We are going to move tomorrow no matter where that house is"

Derek was looking at her amused. "Now you know how I feel"

"I do" Meredith sighed and rolled over from him; she looked for her shirt around the bed and when she found it she pulled it back on head. "And I also imagine that you are not in the mood anymore"

"True" Derek sighed and stood up in his sit and rubbed her back.

"Enough with my good mood" Meredith groaned standing up from bed "Like I don't deserve to be in a good mood on mornings" she was now mumbling angry to herself.

Derek got out of the bed and came over to her and hugged her back "Now calm down. This is not a reason to break your mood."

"It is, Derek." Meredith turned around. "This is a sign that my entire day will be crappy… You know what would miss to make my crappier?"

Derek just looked at her puzzled.

"To have that Anthony as my attending again" Suddenly the events with him from the previous evening returned in her mind.

"There are slight chances for this to happen. I was never lucky to have you two days in row as my intern and I don't think that he will request you to Bailey"

"Let me doubt!" Meredith told him and walked out from bedroom.

------------------

After they showered, Meredith and Derek headed together downstairs in kitchen for breakfast.

Izzie turned her back on them when she saw them coming in and left from the coffee machine, where she was standing, knowing that they would go there.

Christina and George knew already what had happened and they were watching them amused.

"Good morning" Derek saluted them cheerful, without feeling uncomfortable.

"Morning" on the other hand Meredith was obviously in a bad mood.

"Oh excuse her" Christina told them amused "She misses her boyfriend"

Izzie looked at her with a glare.

"Now calm down Izzie. It's ok, we were doing anything ... yet… Right Mer?" Derek was trying to fix the situation.

"Right" Meredith answered annoyed "We are going to move from here anyway" She took a seat on table waiting as usual for Derek to bring her the coffee.

"If you move it means that we have to move too?" George asked her.

"No, of course not. Nothing will change, don't worry."

"ok"

After breakfast they left to hospital.

Since Ellis and Richard found out about their relationship, Meredith and Derek didn't care that much if they were seen together. They weren't kissing or having intimacies in public, but they walking inside the hospital together holding hand in hand. They broke up their hands when Meredith and her friends walked out of the elevator, giving her a kiss on forehead.

During the breakfast and during their ride to hospital, Izzie stood quiet avoiding involving into their talk more than it was necessary. Alex noticed this thing too, who was already in locker room.

"Something happened?" he asked them seeing that.

"No, everything is fine." Izzie tried to seem calm. "Everything is fine, why wouldn't it be?"

Meredith looked at Izzie smiling from her locker. "It's fine Izzie! We weren't doing anything … yet and it wasn't for the first time when you saw bare bodies, so let's forget about it. We are going to move tomorrow anyway so I guess I can forgive you for that."

"Wait, wait!" Alex came to them very curious "Who was naked?"

"Me and Derek, but as I said, it doesn't matter anymore."

When Meredith answered to Alex, Izzie turned the back on them and continued to change her clothes.

Alex and Meredith smiled at each other and Alex went over to Izzie and wrapped the arms around her waist hugging her back. "Did you miss me that much?" Alex asked more as a tease.

Izzie didn't taste the joke, especially since Christina had said it too earlier.

Meredith saw that the others were about to burst into laugh, so she made them a sign to stay quiet.

"Ok" Izzie turned around to them "You say it's forgotten, then let's forget about this subject!"

Alex gave her a kiss on cheek and moved to Meredith, leaning against the lockers nearby hers. "Did you already find a house?"

"No, but we are going to see some houses tomorrow, because we both have the day off and hopefully, we'll be able to move right away"

"The other day you were having doubts about moving in with him and now you look like you would do anything to move."

"This happens when you can't have decent sex with your boyfriend" Meredith said, but immediately she remembered Izzie's pain "Sorry Izz,"

Izzie just nodded, trying to ignore her comment.

The subject was dropped and another one started about Alex's night on call.

Bailey walked in soon. When the interns saw her, they gathered around her.

"Karev, you will spend the day down in pit until noon when your shift ends, Yang, you will join him, O'Mailey, find Burke, Stevens, you are with Shepherd and Grey…" saying that, she took some kind of suspicious look mixed with a weird smile "…it looks like you are impressing all the neurosurgeons"

"What do you mean?" Meredith asked her puzzled.

"Dr. Anthony requested you today"

When she heard that, Meredith sighed knowing that the day can't be too good.

"Can't I go in pit too?" she asked Bailey hoping until the last second that she will avoid another day with Steve.

"No Grey; I assigned you to an attending and this can't be changed, just because you are not in the mood for neuro today." Bailey snapped at her and turned around and walked out.

"Damn it!" Meredith cursed to herself, but the others heard her too.

"Now tell me what happened yesterday with him in gallery?" Christina came over to her and posed in front of her.

"Nothing happened" Meredith answered angry and stormed out from there, leaving her friends looking curious after her.

"What happened yesterday?" was their question, but Alex was the one who asked it loud.

"She came in gallery after her shift waiting for Derek and I and then this doctor came in and after just a few minutes she stormed out angry from there." Christina told them what she had seen in the previous evening.

"He must have said something about her name again. What a jerk!" Alex said shaking his head.


	32. Sexual harassment

**N/A: Because I have a big part from this story already written, I didn't want to leave you in a cliff. Therefore, I decided to post the events from the same day in one long chapter. I hope you will like it! It has a lot of drama, but you know… after rain always comes the sun :P (or whatever it is says in English lol)**

**------------------------------------------**

After she ran from locker room, Meredith jumped into an elevator, in all this time thinking how to put that idiot back to his place. She didn't have too much time to think, because as she stepped in, she met him in there.

Meredith could not help it not to groan seeing him, especially since they were alone in there.

"Well, hello you too!" Steve smiled when she saw her pissed off and turning her back on him.

"Good morning Dr. Anthony!" Meredith continued to look ahead trying to ignore his stares.

"Look Meredith, I am sorry for the way I behaved yesterday in gallery! I didn't..."

When she heard him talking to her, Meredith turned around to face with a glare. "I'm Dr. Grey for you and what you told me last night I prefer to forget."

"I didn't mean to sound rude and I hope you didn't take it as an offense. Since I am new in town I could need a friend and you seem to be a good friend!"

"I am a good friend, for MY FRIENDS." Saying that, Meredith turned her back on him again.

Steve didn't seem discourage by Meredith's harsh tone and cold attitude; contrariwise he seemed like very tempted to continue.

"I'm sorry for the way I behaved yesterday with you during the shift and believe me that I feel very bad about it! Just give me a chance, ok?"

"A chance for what? To be my friend?" Meredith asked him coldly without looking back at him.

"A friend... for beginning, then maybe more, who knows!"

As he said that, Meredith felt his arms sneaking around her waist.

He didn't have time to surround the entire waist because in the next second, Meredith pushed him against the wall, holding tight his wrist.

"Don't you even dare!" She threatened him with a deadly look, and then he let his wrist free and moved in the opposite side of the elevator. "I'll ask Bailey to resign me and I am sure that neither she nor the Chief will be happy to hear about your harassment!"

"Oh so you are going to use your influence, huh?" Steve asked her with an ironic tone. He didn't look scared at all by her threatening. "Look, we don't have to get to such an extreme. Ok, if you don't want it's fine! I want to prove you that I am a good guy."

"I don't want you to prove me that you are a good guy, because I am not interested to find out. I want you to prove me that you are a good doctor." Meredith answered sharply and walked out from elevator when the doors opened.

Steve followed her closely. "I can be that too, you will see." He told her in the same relaxed tone and walking faster leaving her behind a little.

He stopped after a few steps and turned around to wait for her. Meredith stopped too when she saw that, but not very close to him.

"You know ... Dr. Grey" he started to tell her, obviously as a tease "If you don't want to go out with me, that's fine, but don't use the pathetic excuse with 'I have a boyfriend'".

"You are the biggest ass I have ever met."

Their short talk was quietly and discreet, both of them taking care not to be heard by someone.

Steve chuckled and turned around. "You say this now" He started to walk again without looking back at her. Meredith remained stunned for a few minutes, seeing what nerve he has.

----------------------

That one was his last inappropriate comment. For the rest of the morning and until noon, he surprisingly managed to act professional. She didn't put all the trust into his changed behavior and kept a cold distance to him.

They scrubbed in together for a two hours surgery; this went very professional too. But Meredith knew she had a reason not to trust in Steve's new attitude.

In the scrub room, Meredith was already washing her hands after surgery when Steve walked in too.

"Nice work in there Dr. Grey!" He told her looking down at her as he started to wash his hands too.

"Thank you! Though I didn't do much!"

Steve looked over his shoulder at her smiling; he would have said something, but he knew he has to keep it for himself.

"Am I going on the right way with my intentions to prove you that I am a nice guy?" He asked her in his usual manner.

Meredith shut the water off and looked up at him. "You don't have to prove me anything."

"At least do I impress you a little?" Steve seemed to become the same jerk as usual, so Meredith felt a little satisfied that she didn't trust him in the first place.

She was wiping her hands when Steve asked her that. Hearing that, Meredith frowned angry at him and threw the towels to trash.

"You don't have to prove me anything and you don't have to impress me at all! NOT interested! Do you hear me?" She snapped at him and stormed out from there.

The scrub nurses and the few interns which had assisted to their surgery, heard the shouts from the OR and all their eyes were now on Dr. Anthony.

He didn't look disturbed neither by Meredith's reaction and neither by the scrub staff from his OR. He wiped his hands too and left the scrub room.

---------------------

Meredith was walking angry down the hall when she ran into Christina, who was coming from the opposite direction.

"Hey, are you off to lunch?" Meredith asked her, hoping that someone will join her for lunch and help her to calm down.

"I ate already, now I have a surgery with Dr. Webber. A guy stuck a cork into his anus, how crazy is this?" Christina told her very excited and amused.

"OMG" Meredith laughed "I want to see him too"

"Too late, the gallery is full already, where have you been so far?"

At her question, Meredith groaned.

"Sorry, but I have to run now!" Christina shrugged and hurried to get in the OR.

Meredith looked back after her smiling and then turned around and started to continue her track after she had let out a sigh.

Because she had forgotten her wallet in locker, Meredith's first stop on her way to lunch was down in locker room. Stepping in, Meredith heard some sounds that seemed to be like moans. She walked slowly and a little hesitant until she got to the lockers row, from where the sounds were coming. She just sneaked the head on the small corridor and hardly abstain herself not to burst into laugh when she saw who were making out there against the lockers.

Meredith cleared her throat smiling and looking somewhere up on ceiling.

When they heard Meredith, Izzie and Alex stopped and pulled apart smiling.

"Are you trying to pay me back for this morning, Meredith?" Izzie asked her smiling and strengthening the lab coat back on her shoulder.

"No" Meredith smiled, still keeping her look away from them and headed to her locker. "I just forgot my wallet" She opened the locker and searched through the coat's pockets for her wallet. When she found it, she shut the locker down and put the wallet in her pocket. "You can continue now! Have a pleasant lunch!" She told them giggling and giving them a glance.

"Thanks Mer! That's very nice of you!" Alex shouted after her and then he returned to their previous activity.

Meredith walked down in cafeteria and stopped trying to see if Derek or George was there. She did see George somewhere across the room sitting down to a table. For a second she had the impulse to go to him and salute him, but in the next second she saw that he wasn't alone.

Steve was there too, eating and talking to George. George was having his back turned to entrance, so he couldn't see Meredith, but Steve was sitting across him and he immediately spotted Meredith. Even if they were in the opposed corner of the cafeteria, Meredith could see Steve's grin when he saw her.

The small incident from earlier with Izzie and Alex had lightened her a little bit, but now, again, Steve had managed to ruin her good mood. She tried to ignore him and went to buy her food.

Meredith put the water and the sandwich down on a tray and went over to a free table and took a seat there. She unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite from it, in all this time trying to ignore Steve's stares.

After just a few minutes, Derek walked in too and same as Meredith, he first stopped to look after her. He saw George and Steve first, but Meredith's form got his attention. He looked confused at her to see her standing there alone, while her friend was in the same room with her.

Derek walked over to her table and took a seat down next to her.

Meredith smiled wide since she first saw him coming in, and now when he was standing right near her with a hand on her leg, Meredith's eyes were sparkling.

"Hey, George is here too, haven't you seen him?" Derek asked her confused.

"Hey! I know!"

"Are you two into a fight or something?"

"No, but Dr. Anthony is there too"

"Mer, what is going on? You seem to run from him like he is a plague or something."

Because they were in a more private corner, Derek didn't hesitate to brush gently the hair from around her ear. "Or you don't like to be seen with another neurosurgeon besides me?" He smirked suggestively at her.

"For both reason" Meredith smiled and looked back down in her tray. She took the bottle of water and opened it.

"Is he still a jerk with you, because you know you can report him if he continues with this unprofessional attitude?"

Meredith was taking a sip from her water when Derek told her that. She also glanced Steve for a second in that time.

"Can we go and eat somewhere else?" She asked him, avoiding completely to answer his question.

"We can go down in basement if you want" He suggested her, with a little worry printed on his face and his voice. "Just let me buy something to eat"

Meredith nodded and Derek stood up and went to buy himself the lunch. She waited him on table, sad and trying as much as possible to ignore Steve. Derek returned fast with his sandwich and a coffee and Meredith stood up and walked out together with him. All these after she had thrown one more glance to Steve.

Down in basement, they made themselves comfortable as usual on a stretcher. When she saw herself alone in there and standing right next to Derek, Meredith put her food down and wrapped her arms around his waist snuggling into him. Derek received her in his arms holding her tight.

He kissed her forehead and lifted up her face to him grabbing gently her chin with two fingers. "Ok, now I want you to tell me what is going on?"

"Derek, what do you want me to tell you?"

"I want you to tell me how bad it is with this doctor, because I have the feeling that he is the cause of your actual mood."

"He has nothing to do with this"

Derek looked at her with disbelief.

"Really... I just wanted to be with you, but if you find this weird, then... fine" She jumped off from stretcher. "I'll leave you alone."

"Meredith" Derek grabbed her arm and made her turn around. "Get back here!" He demanded her smiling and motioning her to get back next to him. When he saw her hesitating, Derek jumped up and pulled into his arms. "I hate you when you don't talk to me."

Meredith didn't say anything; she just wrapped her arms around him and hugged him.

"I have some news that might cheer you up a little." Derek pulled away and leaned on stretcher.

Meredith stepped back and leaned against the wall, looking at him smiling. "Ok, cheer me up then!"

"Tomorrow at 10 we are expected to go and visit the house I found and... here comes the best part, if we like it we can sign the contract immediately."

"But we have to see the house that I found too." Meredith told him raising an eyebrow.

"We will, but I am very sure that you will love my house."

Meredith didn't comment more and just shook her head smiling.

"And the second news is that later today we are going to scrub in together"

"We are? How come?"

"Dr. Anthony will scrub in with me!"

Meredith wasn't very thrilled by that idea and Derek noticed that.

"Maybe this way I will be able to find out how bad is he with you!"

Meredith didn't want to make Derek suspect more about what was going on between her and Steve, therefore she agreed silently with him.

She headed back up to her floor extremely concerned and uncomfortable to see Steve again, especially after he had seen her leaving with Derek from cafeteria.

"It wasn't very nice of you Dr. Grey, to let your friend eat the lunch alone!"

His voice had started already to scratch all her brain nerves and that is why, when she heard him talking behind her, Meredith instinctively started to rub the temples annoyed, clenching the eyes and the teeth.

She slowed down the footsteps a little to wait for him to get by her side, replying to his comment with silence.

Steve looked down at her smiling and started to walk without any other inappropriate comments... for a while. Meredith knew that he will bring in discussion what he had seen in cafeteria.

They stopped in front of the elevator and Meredith was the one who pressed the button to call it. When the doors opened and the only passenger got off, Meredith hesitated to step inside. Steve did it and turning around to face her, pressing the button to keep the doors open for her, he waited for her to walk in with a suggestive smile.

Meredith took a deep breath and rolling her eyes she stepped in, walking in the opposed side from Steve. Steve didn't comment upon that and leaned against the wall looking up and watching how the elevator was going up floor by floor. "You'll get lucky today" He said without taking his eyes from those.

Meredith shot him a glare.

Steve just gave her a glance with his regular dirty smile and started to study the button panel.

"I mean we are going to scrub in with ... Dr. Shepherd for an intervention on the spinal cord."

Of course his comment wasn't a professional one, since he had emphasized Derek's name.

"I think it would be better if I won't scrub in"

"Oh my, but you are very pretentious" he said looking at her. "Do you think you can afford to refuse a surgery like this?" He knew very well the reason Meredith didn't want to scrub in for, therefore he was having a cruel pleasure to tease her.

"I just think that I am not ready for it. I haven't studied very much about this." Meredith tried to justify herself.

In that moment, the doors opened and Steve let her walk out first.

"Oh I am sure you have studied very well" He whispered to her ear as he was closely following her outside. "You are just being modest" He continued hurrying in front of her and with a casual tone.

Meredith stopped and looked after her dumbfounded.

"Come on Dr. Grey, we don't have all day." He called after her, without looking back.

She followed him, very determined to stay firm on her decision not to scrub in with them, but when he put a chart in her arms and looked down on it, she understood that she would better scrub in and pray nothing wrong to happen. It was Mrs. Rees, the woman who was going to have the spinal cord surgery.

She took the chart for study and two hours later she was scrubbing in with him, Derek and Izzie.

Izzie and Derek noticed how nervous Meredith was while she was washing her hands. Derek suspected the reason, so he started already to look at her and Steve with discretion from time to time. Izzie, on the other hand, was clueless; she had heard something from Alex and Christina about what a jerk Dr. Anthony was with Meredith, but she couldn't explain why Meredith was so nervous.

"Are you ok, Mer?" She whispered her while they were drying their hands.

"Yeah! Why wouldn't I be?" Meredith gesticulated trying to keep a normal behavior. Then a nurse helped her to get dressed and hurried in the OR to avoid any other questions.

Izzie looked at Derek curious, but Derek just shrugged and joined Meredith and Steve inside.

The surgery was a complex one, so it lasted more than 4 hours. During those 4 hours, Derek gave regular glances to Meredith to see if he can notice anything strange at her. He did notice some nervosity in her behavior during the first hour, but it was hard for him to explain it why since everything in there was going very professional and everyone was very focused on surgery.

Because of the strictly professional background, Meredith managed to calm down and stay focused on the work she was doing with Steve.

Surprisingly for her, Steve didn't give any nasty comments and seemed to be the same Dr. Anthony she had met in the morning of the previous day... strict and very serious on his work.

She and Steve were the first ones who left the OR to scrub out, Derek staying inside longer to supervise Izzie's sutures.

In the scrub room, the sound of water pouring was making more obvious the awkward silence between them. Meredith was avoiding saying a word to him, not wanting to involve him into a talk that might turn into another unpleasant harassment. There were some things that she would have liked to discuss about regarding their surgery, but she knew she will have that chance later with Derek, in private.

Steve finished first to wash the hands, so she walked over to wipe his hands.

Meredith was also avoiding looking at him, for the same known reason.

He leaned his back against the sink, crossing the arms up to his chest and watching Meredith as she was removing the soap from her arms. Meredith avoided his look, but she could feel a smile that was sending her cold chills down her back. That situation was needing to end and ... soon; she wasn't just being able to find a way ... the right way to end it.

"Should I wait to become the head of neurosurgery or the Chief of surgery to bring you naked in my bed?"

His question came out naturally; no indignation or joke had come out with it. Probably that one was the thing that made her explode.

She shut the water off and as her hand was leaving the sink area, it slammed hard against his face causing him a rain of green stars and to her mutual killing pain that chocked back in her throat letting her disgust for him to go out first.

"I can't even find the words to describe the disgust and the despise I have for you! You are nothing but a miserable creature that deserves to share the same habitat with animals! Actually no, because those animals deserve to live in peace without you! You are just a scum who needs to be wiped away from the face of this planet!"

Since the moment that Meredith sent Steve that slap, the attention of the entire scrub staff was on them. Especially Derek's. He asked one of the staff members to end closing up, while he and Izzie hurried outside to see what was happening. He threw away the gloves on his way out and disposed them down in bin; then immediately he interfered between them, facing Steve and keeping Meredith behind him.

"What the hell is happening here?" He yelled looking at them, but in particular at Steve.

"Don't imagine that this won't have consequences!" For the first time during those days, Steve burst out angry threatening Meredith. "You might be the daughter of Webber, but this doesn't give you any right to hit your boss!"

"What the hell is going on here?" Derek repeated his question, that time more angry and irritate. He pulled back away so that he can face both of them. "Meredith!" He shook her head trying to make her say a word.

But there was nothing that he could get out from her; she was crying of anger, embarrassment and pain. The pain was pulsating in her palm.

That was all she felt able to do in that moment; all she needed after that was to be left alone. Therefore, she turned around and left the room running.

"I'll go after her!" Izzie hurried out, throwing the mask and the cap on her away out.

Derek's eyes fell on Steve after Izzie's exit.

"I want an explication doctor!" Derek took a firmer position in front of him, very determined to find out what had caused that reaction to Meredith.

"There is no explication to give! That slut has just slapped me and you should stop defending her because she is worthless!"

That bought Derek's anger over the edge and couldn't help it not to punch his face and sent him down on floor.

He knew he won't find out anything from him therefore there was no point for him to stay there. He walked out shaking his hand in pain and looking around to see if he can see Meredith.

Meredith was far long gone from that floor and Derek knew it, so he didn't waist a second and started to walk toward elevators. He was shortly stopped by a grip and his friend's voice.

"Derek, wait!"

When Mark grabbed his hand, Derek clenched his teeth in pain and pulled it away from him.

"Is everything alright?" Mark asked him worried when he saw his inflammation from palm. "What happened? I saw you and Stevens storming out from the OR!"

"Something happened between Meredith and Anthony! I need to find her!"

"What happened?"

"I don't know Mark! Let me find her now, ok?" Derek snapped back angry at him, because he was kept from his track.

"Fine!" Mark stepped back defensive.

"I'm sorry Mark, we'll talk late ok?" Derek realized that he had snapped at the wrong person, so he turned around at him walking backwards.

"I suppose we won't have a drink together tonight!" Mark shouted back as a joke to let him know that it was ok.

In the next second, Derek was stopped by a nurse.

"Dr. Shepherd, they need you in trauma room 2!"

"Right now?" Derek asked frustrated thinking that he might not be able to go and look for Meredith.

"Yes; it's an emergency!"

Derek groaned and ran his hands through hair frustrated "Fine! Page Dr. Grey in there!"

"But she is off duty!"

It was indeed passed the interns' shift.

"She is still here, so page her!" Derek told her one more time hurrying to the trauma room to check the patient.

-----------------------

After Meredith's run from the scrub room, Izzie had some troubles in finding her. She knew she was usually hiding down in basement when she was having problems, so there was her first stop. When she got there she saw that Meredith wasn't there. Izzie wondered where else she could be and decided to try in locker room.

Izzie found her into a corner from locker room, down with the knees brought up against the chest and sobbing.

"Mer, what happened?" Izzie kneeled in front of her cupping her knees with worry written on her face.

"Please Izz… leave me … alone!" Meredith begged her between sobs.

"Mer"

"I can't … not now" Meredith wiped her face with both hands hiding it then in palms.

"He is sexually harassing you, isn't he?"

Meredith kept her face buried into her palms, but the sobs went harder giving that way an answer to Izzie.

Izzie took a seat down next to her and pulled her by shoulders into her arms. "Shh… calm down now, it will be over… you will see!" She was trying to comfort her.

She gave her a few moments to let her sobs calm down until Meredith's pager went off. Because Meredith didn't show any attention to take it out and check it, Izzie did it for her and searched through her pocket for her pager.

"It's Derek" Izzie told her looking down at the message sent by that nurse.

Meredith shook her head wiping that way her face against Izzie's scrub top.

"You should have told him! You should have told the Chief!"

Meredith used her hands to dry her cheeks as she was straightened back on her sit. "I thought I can do it by myself! I didn't want look like I was using my relationships with them to put Anthony back to his place!"

"Meredith, are you out of your mind? How could you think something like that? That was a man sexually harassing one of his co-workers; Derek and Richard are your bosses, both of your bosses and they have the right to know when one of their subordinates have problems to be able to help it. You are the subordinate who has all the right to complain to its bosses when something goes wrong! There are no favors here; it's just your right as woman to be treating respectful by your male colleges."

Tears had started to run down on her cheeks, repetitively wiped by her backhand. She didn't say anything knowing that everything that Izzie had said was very true. She admitted to herself on how stupid she was for not reporting him from the second two.

"You have to go and report him to Richard!"

Meredith nodded and reached for Izzie's leg as support to stand up. Izzie helped her and followed her up too.

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No" Meredith shook her head. "Thank you Izzie!" She looked grateful at her.

Izzie answered her with a nod and a slight smile and watched how she was walking out from there.

-----------------------------

The nurse had paged three more time, probably at Derek's insistences, but she ignored them all and headed towards Richard's office.

It was late, but she knew she will find him there; the hospital had always been his second home, but since Ellis has left, it turned into his only home.

Meredith saw him through the glass windows working down with some papers.

Richard spotted her with the corner of his eyes and by the look on his face when he stood up and walked out to her, she thought he might have found out something.

"Come on in Meredith!" Richard led her inside and motioned her to take a seat on couch.

She did it and Richard followed her down on it too. In that moment, Meredith was sure that Richard had at least heard something.

It was silence. Meredith was sobbing from time to time, more often as the silence was continuing. Richard was rubbing his palms one against the other, fixing a spot from ground.

"He keeps harassing me!"

Meredith had finally spoken out.

"Anthony"

"Anthony" Meredith confirmed.

"Why didn't you come to me right away?" For the first time since they were sitting down on couch, Richard looked up at her.

Meredith was tired to give the same explication to everyone, so she answered simple. "Because I was stupid!"

"Since when is this happening?"

"Since yesterday evening!"

Richard rubbed his face frustrated and stood up. He started to pace in front of her. He stopped and looked down at her, his look calling for hers to look up at him.

"Are there any witness?"

Meredith was a little surprised… better said shocked. She didn't know the meaning of his question. He didn't have trust in her or he was just doing his job?

"No! There wasn't enough time! He was acting like that only when we were alone!" She explained.

"I'll call the authorities but…"

"I know! I don't have chances, but I really don't want the authorities to be involved! None saw us … nothing physically happened. Just the scrub staff saw the slap, but they didn't hear his comment. I just want to get rid of him; I won't spend any minute from now on of neurology, but just don't make me work with him again."

"Don't worry, you won't work with him again! You can be sure of that! His behavior won't go without consequences! Go home and rest now! Do you have the day off tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah" Meredith sighed a little calmer and got up on her feet again.

She sighed heavily again in Richard's arms when he hugged her and then pulled away from him and smiled slight.

-----------------------------

Izzie waited for her in locker room and she was the one who drove her home.

Derek had to scrub in a surgery, so he was in the OR at the time that Izzie and Meredith had left home.

During the ride, Steve's bad memory was no longer present in her mind. Her only and probably the worst worry was Derek's attitude after all those things. He had asked her many times to talk to him when something was going wrong, but she kept refusing to do it. She didn't know how mad he was on her now, especially after she had turned down his calls on pager, but he must be very mad, she thought.

When they walked inside the house, only Alex was there.

"I'll bring some ice for you hand!" Izzie told her after she taken off the coat.

"Thanks!"

"Ice for her hand? Why? What happened?" Alex asked looking at them.

Izzie just smiled with a shrug and continued her way towards kitchen.

"Mer, is something wrong?" He asked her worried, when he saw that she had been crying.

"Yeah, some things are wrong, but I really don't feel like talking about them right now! Please! I just need sleep and I might be better after!" Meredith headed upstairs leaving Alex puzzled.

"What the hell happened?" He asked Izzie, when she returned from kitchen with a bag of ice.

"I have to give her this first, we'll talk after, ok?" Izzie told him showing him the ice and giving him a quick kiss.

-----------------------------

Meredith couldn't fall asleep; the time was flying away so fast and there was no sign from Derek. She was encouraging herself with the thought that maybe a surgery kept him so long in hospital.

She was fussing under sheets from one side to another every two minutes. She had disposed the bag with ice in her toilet when the ice melted. Her palm was still red, swallow and painful, but that was the thing that was less hurting her.

When a slight knock on her door announced the presence of a visitor, Meredith jumped up in her sit.

It wasn't Derek. Derek wasn't knocking!

And she was right. Alex was the one who opened the door and walked in.

"Hey"

"Hey Alex" Meredith forced a smile.

Alex joined her in bed leaning against the headboard. "How are you feeling?" His question came with a squeeze to her shoulder.

Meredith didn't look back at him and just shrugged.

"Don't worry, I will take care of him!"

Meredith leaned on headboard to and looked at him smiling. "He is not worth it! Richard will take care of him!"

"Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you tell Derek? He would have interfered right away as boss of his!"

"It doesn't matter anymore! Derek is mad… I guess I will continue to share the same house with you!" She sighed and put the head down on his shoulder. "Not that I complain tho"

"Derek has no reason to be mad of you!"

"He does."

Alex lifted her face to him. "Did you…?" He put the question incomplete, but Meredith knew what he was referring at.

"No" She jumped offended.

"Then why should he be mad? It wasn't your fault!"

"I should have told him from beginning! Now I am sure he is mad!"

"In this case he is a jerk too and you should get over him!"

"I don't want to get over him, Alex!"

"Listen Mer… some men are ass-holes and I apologize for this, but just some of them and I don't think that Derek is one of those men! If he is mad, he will get over it and forgive you!"

"Are you one of those men?" Meredith asked him a little more brightened by his words.

"I don't know! You tell me!"

"You are not!" Meredith smiled and leaned on him to give him a kiss on cheek and rest on him.

Alex wrapped his arms around her and held her there for comfort.

"He will be back!" Alex said later as he pushed her away from him and stood up from bed.

Meredith nodded and watched him leaving.

As Alex was walking out on door he ran into Derek, who was just coming in.

When she saw Derek, Meredith jumped out of bed to him. "Derek" She ran straight in his arms. "You're here!" She hugged him tight very relieved to see him there.

Derek wrapped the arms around her and led her to bed, both of them taking a seat on it. "I'm always here! You are the one who is absent sometimes!"

At his words, Meredith pulled away from his arms and looked at him worried.

"Why didn't you tell me about this from beginning? You even lied to me!"

"I didn't lie! I just told you half from truth!"

"And why did you leave out the most important thing? I would have interfered right away; you know I am his boss!"

Meredith knew Derek will be mad because of that, but she also knew that she has no good explication for that and therefore… no excuse.

"I'm sorry Derek!" She looked into his eyes with extreme regret hoping that Derek will see how sorry she was.

"I know Meredith and I am sorry too, but I want you to stop be sorry and be more open with me! You really don't trust me?"

Even though their talk was a very serious one, Derek's voice was calm and kind and because of that Meredith was feeling worse.

Derek could saw how bad Meredith was feeling, so he lifted her chin to me look into her eyes, "I am sorry for what that guy did to you and I know that you were trying to be brave, but you have to know that there are situations when you cannot afford to be brave and in cases like those you have to ask for help!"

Meredith nodded silently.

Derek kneeled in front of her taking her knees into his hands. "I am going to forgive you this time because I don't want us to go and look for a house mad on each other, ok?"

Again, Meredith stood quiet and nodded looking guilty at him.

"Now try to forget about him, because he got what he deserved and I am sure that Richard knows what the right thing to do with him is." He released her knees and took her face in his palms barely touching her lips with his kiss. He stood up and pulled her up too into his arms.

Meredith let out a sigh of relief when she saw herself into his arms and tightened the hug. "I love you Derek!"

"I know!" He broke the hug and took her by one hand. "Let's see if we can find something to eat!"

"I am not hungry!" Meredith stopped their way to door.

"Do you ever eat?" Derek asked her coming back to her and taking her by waist.

"Of course I do, but not when I am depressed and tired!"

"Depressed and tired, huh?" Derek asked with a dirty smirk. "I think I can help you with that!"

"You do? Because if you do, then I will be very grateful to you!"

"I'm sure you will!" Derek chuckled taking back her hand. He changed their track and headed to her small bathroom.

He filled the bathtub with bubbles and for their entertainment he helped Meredith to take off her clothes, after that he joined her.

Meredith relaxed in his arms enjoying the kisses he was giving to her neck. She looked out for one of his hands to intertwine them. When her fingers touched his hand, Derek clenched out of pain and pulled it back.

"What's wrong?" Meredith asked him worried looking back at him.

"Let's just say that Christina and I got a new patient for Mark!" He joked shaking his hand in pain.

"You and Christina?!" Meredith looked at him shocked.

Derek nodded and pulled her back to him kissing her cheek.

Meredith found again the comfort in his arms. "You might have ruined his face, but he might have ruined our careers!"

"What do you mean?"

Meredith turned her head to him and shook her own hand.

Derek took it into his and kissed it. "We'll get our hands back soon, but he won't be able to show his pretty face again"

"He doesn't have a pretty face" Meredith mumbled as her eyes were closed and her head was resting on him.

"He doesn't have anymore, but he had, didn't he?" He asked her joking referring at the previous morning when Meredith and Christina were admiring him.

"No" Meredith replied annoyed that he had to bring that up to her.

Derek chuckled satisfied and both of them enjoyed their bath and silence.


	33. Moving on

When Meredith started to fuss from one side to another next morning, Derek woke up too.

"Ok, ok I am up, now stop!" Derek moved closer to her and put an arm over her to bring her into him. He traced a few kisses along her cheek and neck and he stopped only when Meredith's pushed him away.

"Don't tell me you are cranky!" Derek groaned when he saw himself rejected. "Please not today!"

"I am not cranky, but your bear annoys me!" Meredith opened the eyes stretching her arms and legs under covers. She turned on a side to face him and keeping the distance between them, she rubbed her hand on his cheek.

"What are you doing? It doesn't hurt you anymore?" Derek asked her taking her hand away from his face.

"No" she answered and moved closer to him "Now it's itchy!" and she started to rub it again, that time along his arm.

"So you don't find my bear annoying anymore?"

"I do, but only on my delicate face!"

"Your delicate face, huh?" Derek laughed and moved on top of her. "Watch what I am going to do to your delicate face!"

He started to kiss softly first one cheek and then the other one; then his lips found her chin and with a light grip, he took it between teeth, sucking it and kissing it softly after each bite. "Is it delicate enough for your delicate face?"

"Can you more delicate than this?" Meredith asked him flirty.

Derek moved his mouth upper hovering over her lips. "More delicate than this?" He asked as his lips were brushing softly hers.

"Too delicate" She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down to her deepening the kiss. Her fingers tracing lines through his hair, her tongue responding into the same passionate manner to his, turning his delicate gestures into more brutal ones.

She arched her head to give him more access to his neck, Derek immediately answered to her request with a few sloppy kisses from behind her ear to her shoulders. He caressed each spot before kissing announcing her his next move.

When her moans started to call his name, Derek found it more pleasant to grant her mouth another kiss, this time more delicate massaging her tongue and sucking softly her lips.

Meredith fetched away from his lips, making his kiss to slip over her left cheek, as her face turned into the clock's direction.

"What time is it?"

"I don't care… right … now" Derek brought her face back to him and took her lips with more force this time.

"You have… to care" She mumbled into his mouth.

Derek groaned and stood up to see the clock. "We have two hours until we'll see the house! When do we have to see yours?"

"The lady told me we can go whenever we can; just to call her before!"

"Great then" Derek gave her a suggestive smirk and pulled the shirt out over his head. He threw it somewhere around him, without a precise destination, and then he slipped his hands under her waistband, untying her pants and very easily he pulled them down, under her butt, under her knees, getting off from her when he had to drag them off from her feet. His finger slowly followed the line of her panties along her abdomen and then along her thighs, each time smiling when Meredith was shivering by the pleasure of his touch.

"We have plenty time to have some fun!" He chuckled lying back on top of her. He let his entire weight to fell over her body and because no complain came from her, he sneaked a hand under her, using the other one as caress to her cheek.

"I love when we have fun together!" Meredith cupped his face. She didn't have to force his lips as he had to do with hers, because he immediately started to brush them against hers again. She pulled his face back a little looking into his eyes with a sparkle smile on her face. She soaked her red lips, crying a little at the marks that Derek's bear had left over them.

He saw her pain and gently ran the thumb over them. "Too delicate" he said lowering his head back to her. He let just two soft kisses above her upper lip and down her lower lip. His eyes found themselves glistering into hers, smiling to her smile, answering with a caress on cheek to hers.

"I love you!" Her words were immediately followed by a kiss.

Derek chose not to say it, skipping over it and answering her with a long and progressive kiss.

Meredith left his neck to lift up her shirt. Derek pulled back and helped her with it, in the next second his attention being caught by her bare chest.

He took it slowly, keeping his mouth away from the two perfect spherical and smooth breasts, but unable not to touch them. He continued to keep his mouth away from them, but not too far, as he was letting kisses on her chest and her breast was completely captured by his hand.

"God... Derek" She arched her back up to him, when she felt his hot breath and moister around her nipple.

Derek chuckled when he felt Meredith's body tensing between his hands and her fingers deeply digging into his hair.

His mouth left the breast and with a contemplative look over it he drew its shape with his index.

"Derek" Meredith cried out seeing the pause he took was getting too long.

Derek looked up at her and showed her again one of his horny smiles. He applied the same treatment to her other breast, sucking it and hovering his hot breath over it.

Both of them snapped angry when they heard the knock on door and the door handle moving. They immediately recalled it, remembering that it was too late for their roommates to be home. Their wonder got its answer in just a few moments, when the door opened and the inappropriate visitor walked in. Derek fell over Meredith to cover her body, since the covers were long gone down on floor.

"OMG!" Richard managed to find his way back outside when he saw the scene of his daughter mounted by her boyfriend._ "I'll wait for you two … downstairs… when… you have … time."_ He rambled from hall.

"It's passed 9 o'clock. What is he doing here at this hour?" Derek asked getting off from her.

"I don't know, but how did he get in?" Meredith asked herself too.

Both got out of the bed and started to look after their clothes.

"Doesn't he have a spare key?"

"No" Meredith answered finding her pants and pulling them back on. "But my mom has. Oh God!" She grabbed the shirt from bed and pulled that one too over the head. "This is so embarrassing, Derek"

Derek started to laugh at her as he was putting the shirt back on.

"What do you find so amusing in this, Derek?" Meredith glared him and took a seat on the bed's edge.

"My boss found me in bed with his daughter! It makes me feel so … dirty!" He continued to laugh and grabbed her hand. "And so horny in the same time"

Meredith giggled slapping his arm playful. "This shouldn't be funny! Something must be wrong if he came here! He never comes here, especially during his shift."

"I know!" Derek stopped from laugh and nodded serious. "Let's see what he wants" He pulled her up from bed and dragged her after her.

"I am scared" Meredith stopped him before open the door.

"I know. It can't be something tragic, so don't freak out" Derek kissed her and opened the door.

-----------------------

Richard was sitting down on couch in living room rubbing his hands nervously with the look fixed over a spot from the coffee table.

The rest of the house was quiet.

Meredith followed Derek inside holding tight his hand. He gave her wink before clearing his throat to get Richard's attention.

"Good Morning Chief!"

Richard looked up at them clearly embarrassed and avoiding a straight eye contact with them.

"Good morning Derek, Meredith!"

"Is everything all right?" Derek asked him, still holding Meredith's hand somewhere behind his back.

"I wanted to talk to you outside the hospital about this and knowing that you're both off today, I decided to stop by. Obviously, I should have rung the doorbell."

"How did you get in?" Meredith's curiosity beat her embarrassment for a second.

"The door was unlocked."

Meredith shook her head at Derek.

"Please come and take a seat!" Richard motioned them the couch across him.

Derek started to walk, but seeing Meredith's resistance, he looked back at her and smiled. He led her to couch and took a seat next to each other.

"This thing…" Richard started a little hesitant after a few moments of awkward silence "between you two…"

"This relationship" Derek cut him, not very happy with the way that Richard called it.

"Your relationship" Richard continued adjusting his words. "Your relationship is very… inappropriate and … uncomfortable for me, for your mother and for your work"

"But it's comfortable for me… for us!" Meredith interfered "And this is what matters the most!"

"It's true and I am happy that you two found the comfort in each other! Anyway… I am not here to talk to you directly about this! I came to tell you Meredith, that Dr. Anthony was suspended from his position and it is very possible that his practice license to be taken. It is clearly that he won't be allowed to practice medicine in any other medical unit. The board needs only your statement for this to happen."

Meredith agreed with a nod.

"You, Derek" Richard continued moving his attention on Derek. "You should have taken another attitude on him, not to punch him. Physical assault is not very welcomed, unless Meredith would have been physically assaulted." Derek opened the mouth to say something, but Richard didn't let him. "Don't! Did he raise the hand to slap her back?"

"No, but he insulted her! What was I supposed to do? To stay and listen how he insults my girlfriend?" Derek asked indignantly.

"See? Here is where you went wrong! There shouldn't be personal actions between the hospital staff!"

"This is stupid!"

"I know Derek, but the board didn't like the way you stood up for your girlfriend, because they know already about you two!"

"Ok, so what is going to happen to me now?"

"They asked me to find a sanction against you and the only reasonable thing I found was to cut half of your paycheck this month"

"You can't be serious"

"I'm sorry Derek! I don't have anything against you! I don't blame you for your relationship with Meredith. I actually appreciated the way you stood up for her and you continue to stand up for her! I am not completely happy with this, but I am happy to see Meredith happy!" he stood up and looked at them. "Make this easier for all us by keeping it as much as possible outside the hospital and Meredith, tell your friend she was lucky because she punched Anthony while she was off duty and outside the hospital!"

"Christina?" Meredith asked a little confused looking at Derek.

"Christina" Derek confirmed with a nod.

Richard walked to door and Meredith and Derek followed him. When Richard opened the door, Derek stopped him with one last question.

"This means that Meredith will start working again under my service?"

"Just in private… in hospital… no" Richard answered him firm.

"Ok, I was just asking"

"One more thing, Meredith" He said walking out on porch. "You might consider locking the door next time!" he advised her referring at the small incident from earlier.

"These things happen when you have roommates, but we'll move today and we'll take care to lock it very well!" Derek found it properly to joke upon that.

Neither Meredith nor Richard found it as funny, so he dropped it and said goodbye.

Derek closed the door and made sure that the door was locked. They walked in back in living room to their previous seats on couch.

They leaned back, Meredith resting on his shoulder with his arm around hers.

"I'm sorry, Derek! I am a trouble maker sometimes" She looked up at him guilty.

Derek lifted her chin a little and kissed her. "You sure are, but I still love you and that punch… I would repeat it even if I know that I will work for free for two months! I might be poorer, but he is ruined"

He always knew how to bring the smile back on her face. She kissed his cheek as gratitude for it and put the head back on him.

"He deserves to be forgotten we deserve to enjoy our day, ok?"

Meredith nodded looking up at him. "But I am not in the mood for sex anymore"

Derek chuckled and stood up taking her hand. "Surprisingly … me neither, but instead I have the mood to eat something and get ready to find a house for us"

"Me too" Meredith smiled. "To have some decent sex"

"To have some decent sex" Derek nodded laughing and wrapping an arm around her neck, he led her to kitchen.


	34. Moving in

**N/A: Lol. I am not Shonda. ******** If I would be her, then what you are going to read in this chapter, it would happen for real. Oh… and I would not stop from writing either.**

**-----------------**

Derek stopped the car in front of two big metal gates, both of them open. He looked over at Meredith, without saying anything, just waiting for a reaction from her.

"Ok, what are we doing here?" Meredith finally asked, obviously that that was what Derek was expecting from her.

Derek continued to smile and still without any word, he started the car again and turned the car trough those gates. Meredith could see at the end of a long alley another car parked and the form of a person that seemed to be woman.

"Don't tell me" Meredith jumped surprised.

Again, Derek remained quiet and he just gave her a smirk.

"This is the house?!" Meredith's shock was produced by the view of those big gates and that big house.

It was a two level house, with many windows on the front side. On each side of the alley were a green area and a few small trees.

"You must be kidding me, Derek! This is not even a house… It's a mansion!"

Derek stopped the ignition after he had parked behind that lady's car, released the seatbelt and leaned on Meredith for a quick kiss. "It has only 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a pool and a lot of green area. It's a house… not a mansion." He said smiling as he opened the door to get out of the car.

Meredith watched him stunned and shaking her head, until he got to her door and opened it for her.

"It's a mansion" Meredith whispered to his ear when she was out.

"It's a house" Derek replied in whisper too and led her to the lady who was waiting them near her car.

"Mrs. Williams" Derek walked over to her car together with Meredith. "I'm Derek Shepherd"

"Nice to meet you Mr. Shepherd!" The lady, who seemed to be in her late 50's, walked towards to them and took the hand that Derek had offered her for shake.

"This is my girlfriend" Derek said pointing on Meredith. "Meredith Grey"

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Grey!" She said smiling politely and offering her hand for shake.

"It's nice to meet you too!" Meredith answered.

"Now I understand why you are interested to buy a house like this" Mrs. said smiling at both of them. "Let's start the tour!"

Meredith looked curious at Meredith. She hadn't understood, Mrs.'s Williams last statement! Derek had understood, but he didn't say anything and continued to look at her with a knowingly smile.

As they followed her inside the house, Mrs. started her presentation.

"First of all I would like to tell you that this is a great choice for a family house, as you will see, it has a lot of green area, perfect for playgrounds, and the rooms are large."

"I am sure we'll love what will see!" Derek said looking down at Meredith and smiling broadly. He bent down a little and gave her a soft kiss on lips.

"A family house, Derek?!" Meredith whispered to him stunned.

Derek couldn't tell yet if she was excited with the house or terrified thinking that it's a family house. With all these, he was determined to make her as excited about it as he was.

The house was indeed roomy, large living room, large kitchen; the backyard was not very big, but too big in Meredith's opinion. The master bedroom was the largest room, with an own small bathroom, shower and even a Jacuzzi; its windows were having a beautiful view over the back yard and all the green area from surroundings.

Meredith didn't want to admit it, but she was excited with that house. Derek noticed that too, but he didn't push her too much, being afraid of her stubbornness.

The master bedroom was the last room that Mrs. Williams showed them.

"So? What do you think?" She asked them after she said everything she had to say.

"We love it!" Derek was the first one who answered smiling at Meredith, as if he was waiting for her to give the same answer.

"Yeah… it's, umm… lovely." Meredith rumbled, not because she was lying, but because she did love it indeed and she didn't want Derek to know it too.

"Can you give us a few minutes?" Derek asked Mrs. Williams

"Sure. You'll find me downstairs."

When Mrs. Williams made her way out of the room, she also grabbed the knot and shut the door after her.

In the next second, Derek pulled Meredith into his arms, sweetly caressing her hair and cheeks. He leaned down to her lips, brushing gently over them. Hovering like that over her lips, Meredith could not respond to his kiss.

She wrapped her arms around his waist enjoying the loving kiss she was receiving from him.

Derek pulled the head back, smiling and sinking into her eyes. "What do you say?"

"I say you are a great kisser." Meredith giggled moving her arms around his neck. She knew what he was referring at, but she just loved to tease him.

"Mer"

"I love the house" Meredith gave up at his pleading look. She saw Derek's grin and his mouth opening to say something, so she cut him right before to say something. "But we should see the house that I found."

"Why? This house is perfect? Can yours be more perfect than this?"

"This is a family house, Derek. We don't need a family house."

Derek didn't get discourage and pushed her gently against the wall. He pressed his body against hers, his hands running through her hair, his lips looking for hers again. "We do need a house like this!" He told her without touching her lips.

"Derek" Her voice was somewhere between a groan and a plea.

Derek knew very well where those were coming from, so he gently kissed her. "In a house like this we can have as much sex as we want. Nobody… I repeat, nobody will bother us and we won't bother anyone either." He hoped that with that he banished her worries.

"Oh" Meredith smiled a little embarrassed at the thought that she was thinking on family and kids while Derek was having only sex in his mind. She sighed discreetly, more relieved.

As he started to kiss her again, Derek's hand found one of her breast and cupped it through her flannel jacket.

She let out a moan when she felt him squeezing her breast and his other hand squeezing her lower back.

"Derek" She moaned again as their kissing and his grips were becoming more and more intense.

"Meredith" Derek answered to her moan breaking up just a little bit the kiss. His hands started to untie the knot of her jacket as his lips were now sucking her earlobe.

"Derek…we should stop!" Meredith was struggling to make him stop. But she wasn't struggling too hard, since she would have wanted him to continue.

"Why?" He asked, without leaving the spot from behind her ear.

"We cannot do it here."

Derek pulled his body back a little and tossing the jacket off her shoulders and then down on floor. "Let's see if we can- once and quick."

"You're crazy, Derek!" Meredith giggled and joined his stripping session.

"I'm too crazy about you."

In no second their clothes were down and Derek lifted her up wrapping her legs around his waist and moving her to bed. He laid her down and got on top of her, her legs not leaving his waist not even for a second.

----------------------

"I hate once and quick" Meredith groaned as she picked up the jacket from floor.

Derek put on his jacket and fixed his raveled hair chuckling when Meredith said that. "We can make it up later… after we sign the papers."

"We're not signing the paper yet, Derek!" Meredith cut him and moved the closet's mirror to fix her hair.

"We've just had sex in here!"

"Derek, it's not like you touched it … you buy it. We'll go see the other house and only after that we will take a decision."

"Argh! A waste of time, but whatever, let's go!" he took her hand and opened the door.

"Do you think she knows what we did?" Meredith whispered on their way down on stairs.

"If she knows, she will make us buy it."

-----------

Mrs. Williams was down in living room, sitting down on couch and taking some notes while she was speaking on phone.

When she saw them coming, she put an end to her phone talk and stood up to came to them. "Did you make a decision?"

Meredith and Derek looked at each other and then back at her. She didn't seem to suspect what they had done upstairs.

"No… not yet. But can we call you back in about … um let's say 2 hours?" Derek asked, looking in the same time at Meredith for her approval.

Meredith nodded and Mrs. Williams agreed too.

---------------

From there, Meredith gave him the directions to their next stop. Derek had the feeling that he knows that area, but being a little confused, he followed her instruction.

He stopped the car immediately when he saw that they were getting on Meredith's street.

"Are we going home? Didn't you say we have to see the other house too?" Derek was now totally puzzled. He couldn't imagine what was going on through Meredith's head.

Meredith leaned on him and kissed him smiling. "Keep going"

"Meredith" Derek protested indignant.

"Let's not waste the time, Derek." Meredith looked ahead on window, keeping an amused look on her face.

"I …" Derek wanted to say something, but he took a deep breath and started the car again.

He stopped it again when they got in front of Meredith's house.

"This is the place where you live, in case that you have some sort of amnesia."

Meredith giggled. "It's not here, Derek."

Derek groaned annoyed and slammed the hands on wheel. "Where is it Meredith? Or there isn't any and we started to look for one?"

"Of course, there is one. Keep going slowly and I will tell you when to stop." If Derek was already boiling of anger, Meredith was extremely amused.

Derek started the car again and drove slowly just like Meredith had told him.

"Stop" Meredith said after they passed two houses from hers.

Derek stopped shaking his head. "Now I think that you are the one who is making jokes with me!"

"No, I am not! This is the house." She told him pointing out on window to a house similar with hers.

"Meredith" Derek said her name and looked at her amused. "I was expecting for it to be close to your house, but I wasn't expecting to be next door from it."

"It's not next door, Derek. It's down two houses."

"It is next door to yours, Meredith. We could continue to say that we leave with them."

"Let's go inside and check this one too!"

"Meredith, there is nothing to check! It's like your house."

"Derek…"

Derek cut her immediately. "Mer, you have to admit that my house is ten times better than this one. That one is brand new; no one lived in it and has a good part from the furniture we need."

"Derek" This time Meredith adopted a pleading tone.

"Mer" He replied in the same pleading tone.

Both of them were staring at each other with pleading faces.

"Mer, we had sex in that house"

Meredith didn't give up on her face.

"And it was a great sex"

Still nothing from Meredith.

"It was once and quick, but it can be indefinite and slow"

Meredith finally rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine"

Derek cupped her face and pulled her into a deep kiss. "I love you!"

"Sure" Meredith pretended to be pouted and crossed her arms looking outside on window and waiting for Derek to drive back to his house.

"I love you even when you are pouted!" Derek joked upon her silly face.

Meredith stuck out the tongue to him in a childish manner that made Derek laugh.

"I love you even when you are silly."

Meredith smiled and put the head down on his shoulder.

Derek took for a second the hand from wheel to squeeze her thigh and then they continued their way back to the first house.

Derek called Mrs. Williams and luckily, she didn't get too far from that house, so they soon met and Derek signed the papers.

Mrs. Williams gave them the two sets of keys wishing them all the best.

They walked her out to her car saying Goodbye from each other, and then Derek put an arm around Meredith's waist and led her back into the house.

When they were about to walk inside, Derek stopped Meredith and pulled her into a kiss.

"We can kiss inside too, Derek"

"We can" He caressed lovingly her hair looking into her eyes with so much love. "We can kiss wherever we want to, now!"

Meredith stood up on her tiptoes and dropped a quick kiss on his lips. "We can"

Derek made a quick move sneaking an arm under her legs and another one behind her and lifted her on arms.

"What are you doing?" Meredith started to laugh when she saw herself lifted on his arms.

"I am carrying you inside. This is what you do when you first move in together, right?"

"This is what newly weds do, Derek. We are not newly weds."

"We're not newly weds, but we are – newly roommates, so this applies for us too!" Saying that, Derek walked inside, shut the door with his foot and just then he put her down.

They stood there still, hugged and looking around them.

"What do we do now?" Meredith looked up at him.

"We can inaugurate our new bed" Derek suggested her with cocky smirk.

"Derek, we've already inaugurated the new bed. A few hours ago, remember?"

"No" Derek pulled her into his arms. "We've tested it"

"All you can think of is sex?"

Derek wasn't sure what answer she was expecting for that question. "Uh- no" He finally spoke up waiting smiling for her reaction.

"It's great then, because I am really, really starving!"

It wasn't exactly the reaction he was expecting from her. He gave her one more kiss and took her hand. "Let's go eat!"

They headed back out on door and Derek closed it behind them, giving her a set of keys.

"You lock it" He said.

"Why?"

"Because I want you to be the first one who locks our house."

"You're insane, Derek" Meredith smiled and took the keys from him. She locked the door and then she followed him to car.


	35. I am happy, mother!

After lunch, they went to buy groceries.

Then, Derek dropped Meredith to her (now old) house to start packing and he left to Mark's apartment for his things, establishing to meet at their new house later that.

It was around six when Meredith arrived to her new home. Entering through those gates, she immediately spotted Derek's car parked in front of the house. Getting closer, she was surprised to see Derek leaning against his car looking as if he was waiting for her. When Meredith stopped the car, he walked over to her car and opened the door for her.

"What are you doing here?"

"I live here too, remember?" He answered amused to her confused look.

"I know" Meredith threw him a glare for making fun of her. "But what are you doing outside?"

"I was waiting for you!"

"Ok, but why didn't you wait for me inside?"

Meredith shut the door of her car and then leaned on it waiting for his answer.

Derek smiled and leaned on her, pressing her between car and his body. He gave her a kiss and then stepped back taking her hand. "I wanted you to be the first one who unlocks the door!"

"Derek, you can't be serious"

"I am very serious" He answered smiling and handing her the keys.

"You really are insane" She took his keys and walked toward the entry.

"I know!" Derek started to laugh.

"No. You are really scaring me right now."

Derek put an arm over her shoulders and kissed her cheek.

Meredith unlocked the door and Derek opened it for her.

"Please don't pick me up again. I can walk." Meredith tried to show him a serious look.

Derek started to laugh and followed her inside.

Derek was stocking the fridge and Meredith was unpacking some of her things in their bedroom, when she heard her cell phone ringing.

She looked for it in her purse and looking at the id she saw an unknown number.

"Hi, Meredith Grey speaking" She said answering on phone.

"_Hello Meredith"_

Meredith recognized the voice and felt the need to take a seat on bed. "Hi mom"

"_I knew something like this would happen. I told you, Meredith, sleeping with your boss it's doesn't give you a good image in the eyes of your colleges and other bosses"_

Like that, without any "how are you?" Ellis needed to throw into her face that she was right, not accepting the relationship between her daughter and Derek.

"So you found out" Meredith replied coldly. The way that her mother started the conversation wasn't a surprise for her. It would have been too strange for Ellis to show some compassion.

"_Of course I found out! I always know what it going on with my daughter! I hope that after this incident you will reconsider this love affair of yours with Shepherd!" _

"So you are saying that I deserved it? It was my fault?" Ellis's gall brought Meredith's nerves over the edge. She could not believe how cruel and insensitive her mother was in that moment. Probably, from all the things that Ellis had thrown to her, this was the most unbelievable.

"_Keep your voice down, Meredith, when you are talking to me! I am not responsible for what happened to you, so you don't have to yell at me! I am just telling you how the things are! All I want, Meredith is to protect you and to make you realized what a big mistake you are doing!"_

If earlier Meredith had raised the voice to her mother, now after she heard what Ellis told her, she couldn't hold it inside. All the anger came out with her words.

"I don't know why in the hell you are trying to protect me when it's obvious that you don't give a shit on me!"

"_Meredith…"_ Ellis yelled immediately at Meredith's shouts.

"Don't! Don't you even dare to say a word to me! I don't know what your problem is; what did I do wrong to you, but I think I deserve to be happy. Don't you ever come to me with how you care about me and want my best for me. If Richard, who is the Chief of Surgery… my boss… Derek's boss… my step father agreed with my love life then your opinion has no value to me"

"_Richard is as fool as you…"_

"Enough mother! I asked you to shut the hell up and for the first time let me tell you what I think!" Once again Meredith was firm enough to cut her mother's words. "Let me tell you something that will kill you: I am Happy, mother! Do you hear me? I am happy and I am happy like I have never been before! I love Derek and Derek loves me. He gives me something that you never gave me… happiness and love! Maybe you don't know what these are, so let me tell you: these are the things that make you keep walking through life every day." Meredith stopped just for a second to breathe. "Please don't call me anymore if you don't care about me! Please just- stop hurting me" She lowered the tone of her voice, reaching to kind one. "And one last thing mom: I moved in with Derek. Goodbye!"

Saying that, Meredith hung up to her mother, not wanting to hear any other word from her, and switched it off placing it on bed next to her.

Only after she took a deep breath, Meredith noticed that she had been started to cry; with that breath, a sob came out and Meredith found herself once again crying and suffering because of her mother.

"_Mer"_ Meredith heard Derek calling her from downstairs.

It had been a perfect day, so Meredith didn't want to let Ellis ruining it. She wiped fast the face with her sweater's sleeves.

"_Meredith, are you ok?"_ Derek called her again, because her answer was late to come.

Meredith took a several deep breathes to regulate the tone of her voice. "I am fine! I'll be down in a second!"

"_Hurry up"_ He shouted at her _"I miss you"_

Meredith giggled continuing to wipe the tears away from her eyes. She hurried to bathroom to splash some cold water over face, trying to hide her sadness from Derek.


	36. Inaugurating the house

She climbed down the stairs, looking around her when she reached at the stairs bottom.

"Derek" Her voice echoed in the large empty space of their new house.

Out of nowhere, Derek showed up from behind the stairs, sneaking an arm around her. Meredith screamed and jumped scared, when she felt herself grabbed by someone's arm.

"Sorry" Derek chuckled picking her up a little to take her off from the last stair. After he gave her a kiss behind her neck, Derek turned her around.

For his little joke, Meredith rewarded him with a playful slap over his back. "I heard that someone misses me" She said hanging on his neck, after the fear disappeared. "Do you have any idea who that person is?"

"Hmm- no" Derek answered with a quick kiss on her lips.

He put a protectively arm around her shoulders and walked her to living room.

"I heard shouts earlier; is everything alright?"

"Yeah" Meredith tried to sound fine, but as the word came out a sighed came out with it too and betrayed her.  
Derek brought her from the dim light of the hallway into the strong light of the living room. He came in front of her, taking her waist into his hands and trying to read her. She was easy to read since her eyes were still red.

Derek brushed her cheeks looking lovingly into her eyes. "Who called you?"

"I guess you want me to talk about this with you!"

Derek pulled her by waist closer to him and smiled. "It would be nice of you if you do"

"My mom called"

"Oh" Derek smiled nodded understanding the cause. "About me … again"

"About Anthony, about… you" She smiled slightly and leaned on him for comfort. "And you can imagine that she didn't call to comfort me!"

"I am sorry, Meredith!"

Meredith looked up at him curious. "What are you sorry for?"

"For being one more reason to fight with your mother!"

"I am sorry too!" She said hugging him and resting on his shoulder.

"Now what are you sorry for?"

"For all my issues!"

Derek smiled and cupped her face bringing it upper to him and kissed softly her lips. "I love playing the shrink with you!"

"You are a good shrink" Meredith giggled kissing him back.

Meredith let her forehead rest on him sighing heavily. "What did I do wrong? What makes me such a bad daughter?"

"Mer" Derek took her head into his hands and saw her eyes tearing. "You didn't anything wrong! You are a good daughter and a wonderful person."

"Then what did I do to deserve her coldness? I always tried to make her proud of me, I had the best grades and I did everything she asked me to, but all these were… useless! Nothing can make her change!"

"I try to understand her too, but I don't know Mer… she is… you have the bad luck to have her as mother I guess. You are great person, Meredith, never doubt of it!"

"But I am lucky to have you!" She said with sadness, but looking in the same time to get a cuddle from him. She wrapped her arms around him and her entire weight fell on him.

"I am telling you this everyday, but you seem to ignore it!" Derek joked.

"Keep reminding me everyday then!"

"You can be sure of that!" Derek led her to couch and set her down, taking a seat next to her. He pulled her into his arms and stayed like that for several minutes.

"So what do we do now?" Derek asked starting to rub intensively her back.

When Meredith looked up at him, Derek took her chin between his fingers and lifted it to him. He breathed over her lips, gently his lips brushing over hers as his thumb was caressing her cheek.

"I cook, you unpack you stuff!" Meredith said breaking Derek's attempt to go further.

"What?" Derek asked with disbelief thinking that maybe she was joking.

Meredith pushed him away from her and stood up smiling. She knew very well how much that was teasing him, but it was exactly what she needed to have some fun and feel better.

"I cook and you unpack your things."

"Mer" Derek groaned with a pleading look on his face. "Are you hungry?"

"No, but I am in the mood to cook!"

"Mer" Once again Derek pleaded her.

Meredith bent over him and dropped a quick kiss on his lips. "Later Derek!"

"Argh" Derek rubbed his face frustrated. "Why didn't you unpack mines too?"

"Because I unpacked mines. Those are your things, you take care of them!"

"But I stocked the fridge and I cleaned up a little around here! These are our things!"

"I am cooking the dinner for us, while you are unpacking your things and we are equal!"

"You know, Meredith, we will have to share the house work!"

"And we will, but I am telling you from the start that I won't become a housekeeper!" Meredith turned around to leave, but after just a single step she stopped and looked back at Derek. "Oh and I won't wash your underwear either!"

Derek burst into laugh and shook his head. "It's fine, but I wanna wash yours!"

"I am sure you want!" Meredith laughed and returned to her track.

Derek hurried to stand up and followed her outside the living room, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and walked out with her.

"Where do you think you are going?" Meredith stopped when she saw Derek coming with her to kitchen.

"If you want to cook then you will need my assistance, remember? You can't cook!"

"Derek" Meredith removed his arm from her and turned him around to direct him towards the stairs. "You have work to do upstairs!"

"Meredith, I can do those some other day, but now I can't let you alone in kitchen!" Derek opposed and now he was the one who grabbed her shoulders and turned her towards the kitchen.

Meredith walked ahead and released herself from his hands. Without any word she hurried up on stairs.

"Hey, where are you going now?" Derek followed her and shouted from the stairs bottom seeing her so hurried. "The kitchen is downstairs in case you still don't know the house."

"_Funny Derek, but I need something first!"_

"Do you need me? Because if you do, then I am on my way!"

"_Derek, you have something else to do so please stop stalking me!"_ Saying that, Meredith climbed down the stairs holding a book in her hand.

"What is that?"

"This" Meredith showed him the book "This is Jamie Oliver and so I won't be alone in kitchen!" She gave him a big and proud smile and walked passed him.

Derek stood there doubtful for a few moments, but then he smiled and continued to follow her.

"Seriously Derek" Meredith groaned when she saw him walking inside. "You are so annoying sometimes!"

"Why?"

"Because you look too happy for me!"

Derek walked over to counter where Meredith had taken out some bowls and hugged her back kissing her behind the neck. "You can't stand to see me happy?"

"Not always. Usually, I am a depressed person, so you have to take me easy with this!"

"I will do my best" He said massaging her waist and kissing her neck. His hand slowly slipped under her pants but in the next second he was pushed away by Meredith's back.

"Derek" She looked back at him with serious glare. "Go watch TV or something, just let me focus, ok?"

"Just a second" Derek whispered moving his kisses on her other side of the neck.

Meredith started to giggle when she felt his hand running from her abdomen up to her chest. "Derek" She wasn't able to command him anymore, so she asked it as a plea.

"A second" Derek repeated tracing the kisses to her cheek.

When she felt her knees getting weak, Meredith made an effort and pushed him again, this time turning around to him threatening with a spoon. "Leave Derek!"

"Fine" Derek pulled apart groaning and took a hurt puppy face "But I won't take care of you when you will chop your fingers and burn your hands!" As he said that, he started laughing and hurried to leave the kitchen.

Meredith grabbed a metal bowl and threw it after him annoyed. She didn't have the power to send it so that it can reach him, since he was just walking out from kitchen. The bowl made a loud and painful noise for her ears and Meredith clenched when it hit the floor. In the next second, Derek sneaked his head back in laughing. "Thank God we don't have neighbors!"

"Get out, Derek!"

"_I am out! I am out! You are going to be so sorry later!"_

Meredith heard him laughing as he was going in living room.

A few minutes later, Meredith was cooking, same as the last time, stuffed chicken. She had just taken out all the ingredients when Derek showed up back in kitchen. Meredith didn't notice his presence, so he leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed and watching her smiling.

Meredith stirred up when she saw someone with the corner of her eyes, in the doorway. "God Derek!" She gasped pressing on chest. "Do you already want to get rid of me?"

Derek chuckled and came over to her, giving her a sweet embrace and quick kiss. "I could never do that!" He said leaning on counter. "So what are you trying to do here?" He asked looking over her book.

Meredith pushed the book out of his sight and glared him. "I am not trying! I am doing!"

"Ok" Derek just not could abstain himself not to get back behind her and hug her. "What are you preparing here?"

"Stuffed chicken!"

"Meri, but you remember how the last one ended!"

Meredith looked back at him with a deadly look. "It ended burnt because of you, remember?"

Derek chuckled remembering that evening.

"And this time I want to prove you that I can do it, so get off my back!"

Derek pulled away and took a seat on table.

"Why did you come back anyway?"

"I have to call the cable company- we don't have cable!"

Meredith looked back at him and rolled her eyes.

"Btw, we don't have heat either and therefore, no hot water!" Derek continued.

"What?" Meredith snapped turning around at him. "Derek!"

"I am sorry- I didn't know!"

Meredith sighed angry and leaned on counter. She stood like that, quiet and glaring Derek for a few moments. "That's it! We are going back home!"

"What? No" Derek stood up immediately. "We can't go return there! We agreed to spend the first night here!"

"Derek" She wanted to yell, but she took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "If we stay here, then don't even dare dreaming that we are going to have sex tonight!" Saying that, Meredith turned around to her ingredients.

"Why?"

"Because-" Meredith snapped again turning around to him. "We don't even have sheets!"

"This didn't seem to bother you earlier today!" Derek gave her a suggestive smirk.

"Because that was once and quick and I told you I hate once and quick!"

"This should not be a problem, Meredith! I will warm you with my body!" He said it with a seductive tone.

"Leave the kitchen, Derek!" Meredith asked him without looking at him.

Derek stood there sitting on table and took a few moments to think. "Mer"

"Derek, why are you still here?"

Derek showed her a pleading face. "Please don't send me away!"

Meredith giggled at his silly face. "Don't tell me you are scared!"

"Actually, I am scared! The house is too big and empty and… I am scared!"

"See? My house was better!"

"This house is the best, otherwise you would not be able to yell and throw with everything around the house when you have the neighbor right next to you! Let me stay here with you and I promise I will behave myself."

"You would better do it, I am already pissed off because of this stupid house!"

Derek gave her a quick kiss on cheek and joined her helping her with the cooking.

Derek helped her indeed, with little teases from time to time, but always making her laugh.

When everything was ready, Meredith put the tray into the oven and set its alarm for 40 minutes.

"Ok" Meredith shut off the oven and then she wiped the hands on a towel. "See?" She showed Derek her fingers. "I have them all!"

Derek laughed taking them in his hands and brought her into his arms. "You're brilliant!"

"I know" Meredith giggled and gave him a kiss.

Derek wasn't satisfied with just one short kiss and took her head into his hands to serve himself with more. Surprisingly for him, Meredith didn't protest as she had done minutes ago; she wrapped her arms around his waist and surrendered in his arms.

They saw the lights flickering and in just a few seconds getting into a complete dark.

"Great" Once again, surprisingly, not Meredith was the one who groaned. "The electricity is down too!"

"I think this house hates us!" Meredith giggled.

"Too bad for it, because it will have to like us, since we are not planning to move!" Derek found her lips easily through dark and kissed her. "We'll fix all these tomorrow!"

"If you want me to live here with you" Meredith wanted to mention. "Do you have a flashlight?"

"No, I didn't think that the electricity will fail!"

"How about candles?"

"Mer, as much as I love you, the candles weren't on our shopping list today!"

Meredith sighed and rested on him. "Now what do we do?"

"We could try to get in our room, but- I don't know the house that well."

"And we'll sleep in kitchen?" Meredith asked him laughing.

"Or" Derek grabbed her legs and picked her up wrapping them around him. "Maybe it's not from our house and the entire neighborhood is on dark, so someone will have to come and fix it!"

"Maybe, but what am I doing up on you?"

"We wait!" Derek chuckled kissing her.

When the electricity went off, they were not far from table, so it was easy for Derek to find it. He placed Meredith on it.

"Derek, we eat here!"

"We'll buy a new table!" Derek said. He stood between her legs, but pulled himself away a little to take off his shirt.

Meredith saw through the moon light what he was doing, so she giggled and helped him with the pants.

"I knew you can't resist me too long!" Derek joked when he felt her hands unzipping his pants.

"Shut up and hurry, because if the electricity comes back, then you won't get any!" After she finished with his pants, Meredith took off her sweater and started to unbutton her pants.

Derek leaned on her, taking her bare skin back into his hands and meeting again her lips. "Mer" Derek groaned when his body pressed on hers and felt her breasts still covered by her bra. "You could have saved me from the hard work!" he mumbled from her mouth as his hands were trying to remove the inconvenient obstacle.

Meredith helped him with that and handed it to Derek. Derek gladly threw it behind him and flipped her onto her back, making room around her. Bowls, spoons, vegetables, they all fell instantly on floor allowing to Meredith to lay back. Derek set himself on her kissing her feverish as his hands were outlining the form of her breasts.

Meredith moaned loudly when she felt him licking and sucking each nipple.

He got off her and with efficiency to remove her pants together with the panties.

"Derek" Each time she was moaning his name, Derek was returning to her mouth, biting each lip, inviting her lips to rub against his into a deep kiss, placing himself more comfortable over her, parting her legs. His body laid heavy over her, to let his hands smoothing her hair to back as they were kissing with even more passion. His right arm met something on table that was on its way, so he pushed it hard. Immediately the sound of broken plates brought them out of their passion.

"Those were brand new" Meredith giggled.

"We'll eat from pot, don't worry!" Derek laughed. "Now back to our business!"

He restarted the tracing of kisses along her neck, down the collarbone.

Meredith gripped her hands into his hair, guiding his head to every spot she needed to feel him.

Derek gave in and pleased her in each way she wanted.

He opened more her legs; easily he lifted her thin waist with just one hand and with one slow thrust he entered her.

"Oh God… Derek" Meredith moaned softly feeling him tight inside of her and thrusting slowly at first and then accelerating more and more.

Her moans got louder once she started to feel tiny spasm building within her. Each of her sweet moans and the feeling of her starting to tighten around him turned Derek on even more.

Derek look her for her loudly mouth, catching her bottom lip when he found it. "You feel sooo good!"

"Oh God, you do too," Meredith's voice trembled under the pleasure that Derek's presence inside of her was giving her.

Derek's mouth was barely leaving hers, letting his hand to add more pleasure by running it up and down her body, squeezing hard her breast, caressing intensely her shaking waist, moving it into the rhythm he needed to feel himself more and more inside of her.

That was when her orgasm hit her and her body tensed under him. She tightened even more around him. "Oh, God Derekkk", she yelled as another wave of pleasure hit her, just as Derek spilled himself deep inside of her.

They lay there, stuck into each other as one, for a moment, trying desperately to control their erratic breathing and to get back to their senses.

"Oh…My…God…" it was all that Meredith could say in that moment.

"Yeah…"

Derek's head rested next to hers, breathing inside of her neck curve, lazy running a finger along her jaw line.

Meredith looked away at him and rested her forehead on his, smiling exhausted.  
He slipped out of her and stayed there next to her, bringing her body against his caressing lovingly her entire body. They just lay there on the kitchen table in that complete dark, none of them daring to make a move to break the moment.

Gently and lovingly kisses they shared, until……….until the light came back.

They groaned at the sudden and strong light.

"I should finish the chicken!" Meredith sighed looking with disappointment at Derek.

"No" Derek pleaded her and wrapped an arm tighter around her. "Finish my chicken!"

Meredith giggled and kissed him, letting her hand to run seductively along his body's curve. "Your chicken is finished" She laughed and jumped off from table.

"No it's not! I am ready for another 40 minutes!"

"I am sure you are, Derek, but this time I don't want to screw up the chicken!" Saying that, Meredith started to look around her after her clothes.

"You're a bad cooker!" Derek pouted and stood up too. "You screwed it with me!"

"Oh, you'll survive!"

Meredith picked up the bra from counter.

"Please, don't" Derek stopped her when he saw that she was planning to put it back on. "We'll save a lot of time later!"

Meredith rolled her eyes smiling and folded the bra.

They dressed back and just then they saw the casualty that their sex session had caused to their kitchen. Everything was thrown all around the kitchen, but the most horrifying thing was the image of white broken pieces from their new set of plates. Derek saved just one, from the set of 10.

"You clean that, while I clean the rest and wash them." Meredith told him directed him to pick up the pieces.

"Why me? You clean them and I will clean the rest."

"You sent them off to ground!"

"I did it, but it was your fault!"

"Shut up Derek and start sweeping!" Meredith told him into a serious and commanding tone turning around to check on her chicken.

"My oh my, aren't we bossy!" Derek walked over to her and hugged her back kissing again her neck. "You have no idea how much this turns me on!"

"I think I have an idea, now please don't start again!" She dropped a quick kiss on his lips and pushed him away.

Derek chuckled and with one last caress over her hair he returned to his mess.

"And clean the table too after that!" Meredith demanded him keeping her back on him.

"You have to stop with the bossing if you don't want me to jump on you right now!"

Meredith looked back at him and giggled.

Before getting the broom to pick up the pieces, Derek leaned on counter thinking on something.

"Don't dream Derek!" Meredith said seeing his dreaming face.

"I was thinking" he started into the same dreamy manner. "We had sex in our bedroom, now we had sex in kitchen… where next?"

Meredith rolled her eyes amused.

"I know…" Derek answered to his own question. "We still have to do it in the rest of the rooms, bathroom and shower, swimming pool, living room and… in closet!"

"In closet?!" Meredith burst into laugh. "Why there?"

"Yeah… you are right… it's strange in closet! But hey, we can try it in basement!" He smirked suggestively.

"God I moved in with a sexual obsessed."

Derek smiled and came again to her, this time just giving her a kiss on cheek. "Thank you Meredith!"

"What for?"

"For not leaving earlier!"

Meredith smiled brightly and kissed him back. "I am glad I didn't leave either."

Derek was staring at Meredith with an amused face, while he was washing the dishes.

Meredith was sitting up on counter, not very far from sink, digging deep into an ice cream box. Though she was much focused over her chocolate dessert, she could still feel Derek's stares.

"You will make that plate disappear from so much scrubbing!" Meredith said it keeping her entire attention over the ice cream and without looking at him.

Derek chuckled and put the plate aside taking after that the last pot. "I have never seen you with such an appetite so far!"

"It must be the cooking! It's exhausting!" She replied with the mouth full.

"Especially when you add some extra activity between its processes."

Meredith grinned and stuck the spoon back into the ice cream, taking it out full. "Here!" She handed it to Derek. "And stop drooling at my ice cream!"

"That's very generous of you!" He leaned to her and kissed her quick, taking then the entire spoon into his mouth.

"Don't make fun of me or I will move back with Alex."

"What, now you are going to threat me with this each time you are not satisfied?"

"Do you think it would work?" She grinned at him and took another spoon of ice cream.

"No! Now you are stuck with me. You won't be able to leave not even if I ask you to leave."

"I don't love this house that much, so it might be easy for me to leave."

"You don't love the house, but you do love me." Derek gave her a smirk and shut off the water. He moved away a little when Meredith hit him with her foot for what he said, and then he grabbed it and moved between her legs taking the ice cream and the spoon from her hands.

"Hey, that's my ice cream" She cried out and stretched her arm after her ice cream.

"Enough with this." Derek said and went to take it back to freezer.

"Derek, you can't deny me what to eat and how much I want to eat."

"Meredith, come!" Derek walked to exit and stopped looking back and giving her a hand to follow him.

"Where?"

"Into the soon-to-be our favorite room." he gave her a suggestive look and gestured her to come.

"I hope it will become our favorite room, because right now…"

"I know, I know; it's not your favorite and you hate the house entirely."

Meredith tried to look at him as if she was pissed off, but she did jump off from counter and walked over to him taking his hand.

Derek put an arm around her shoulders and brought her closer to him. Derek watched her smiling when she put the head down on his shoulder and wrapped the arms around him, walking like that out of the kitchen.

"I don't hate the house entirely!"

Derek looked confused at her mumble.

Meredith looked up at him smiling understanding the puzzle look he was giving her in that moment. "I don't hate the kitchen!" She cleared his confusion and put the head back down on his shoulder.

Derek smiled happy kissing her head and continued their way towards their bedroom.

Walking inside, Meredith turned on the lights and both remained there, at entry analyzing the room.

If the dark wooden floor and the white walls, together with the striped bed and the wooden floor's closet color during the daylight seemed fine to Derek, in that moment, all those were as depressing as they were ever since for Meredith.

"I can't believe we forgot the sheets!" Derek sighed looking over the big cold bed.

"We could go back to my house and take some from there." Meredith told him.

Derek looked at her and shook his head. "And then they will start making fun of us – of me."

"No, they won't"

"Come!" Derek took her hand and led her to bed. They took a seat on its edge and Derek put his arm, again, around Meredith. "You can use my arm as pillow; you use it often and you seem to love it."

Meredith looked up at Derek and smiled seeing him smiling; she kissed softly his lips and then she put the head back on his shoulder. "I would sleep on this floor too, only to sleep with you."

Derek smiled and put his other arm around her bringing her into a tight hug. "Thank you!"


	37. What if

The rain from outside hit their windows loudly, so that made Meredith to open her eyes. She found herself in Derek's arms, facing him and her arms resting over his waist. Meredith smiled when she realized she was in Derek's arms and their bare bodies were covered by what, at that hour, seemed to be a brown blanket. Slowly, she turned around and looked over the clock to check the hour. It was almost 5 a.m., so there was still some time left for them to stay in bed. Meredith sighed with relief especially after the discomfort that the rolling gave to her stomach.

Derek felt her moves, so he woke up too.

"Are you ok?" He asked her in whisper, brushing her cheek with his thumb.

Meredith looked back and him and rolled into his arms. "Yeah"

"Morning" Derek leaned on her and kissed her.

"Morning" She answered to his kiss and then pulled away a little. "Where did you find this?" She asked him confused referring at the blanket over them.

"I had it in my car; see? I always take good care of you!" He chuckled and flipped her onto her back. He got on top of her leaving his body over hers and started to kiss her.

"You always take good care of me!" Meredith giggled kissing him and running her hands through his hair.

Derek returned to his previous position in bed and laid onto his back, sneaking his arm again under her neck. "Do you know what day this day reminds me of?"

"What day?"

"The first morning I woke up with you"

"After that night at Joe" Meredith smiled remembering that morning.

"That's right and your room and your bed, were looking exactly like this one!"

"Except for the missing pillows! I had pillows!"

"But you didn't use it that much then!"

"Maybe, but I had pillows!" Meredith giggled.

"You had pillows!" Derek laughed and came back on top of her. Just that this time, when he pressed his body over hers and started kissing her, Meredith pushed him away. "What?"

"I am not feeling very good!"

"I can see that! What is wrong?" Derek asked her hearing the tone of her voice and the way her body was trembling next to him. "Are you cold?" Suspecting the cause, he started to rub her body.

"No" Meredith moved him hand away from her then, she did the exact same thing with the blanket and stood up. She found her sweater from the previous evening and pulled it over the head and then, finding her panties too she put them on a got out of them.

"Where are you going?" Derek asked her confused after he had watched how she hurried to get out of the bed.

Meredith didn't have time to give him an answer running inside the bathroom.

Derek heard her throwing up, so he hurried to pull some clothes over him and went to check on her. He found her down in her knees, bent over the toilet and puking. He turned on the lights and got down on his knees holding her hair to back and rubbing gently her back.

When she calmed down, Meredith fell in her sit and leaned against the wall exhausted. Derek stood up and wetted a washcloth, chilling her out a little with it. "Are you better?"

Meredith shook her head keeping the eyes closed and mumbling exhausted. "I am dizzy"

Derek took a seat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her. Meredith rested her head on him and they stood there like that for several moments.

"I am a little better" Meredith raised her head from him. She saw Derek looking at her into a weird way. He seemed worried but happy too, in the same time. "Now what happened to you?"

"Nothing" Derek stood up and then he helped her up too. "I should run you some tests!"

"Why? It passed now!"

"You are still looking pale and what if…" He didn't continue and could not help not to smile.

"What if what?"

"What if you are pregnant?"

Meredith put a hand over her abdomen and fell back on her knees puking in toilet.

Any shade of worry from earlier, was far gone on Derek's face when Meredith started to throw up again.

The second round didn't last long and Meredith refused Derek's help, when he wanted to wipe her face and neck again. She stood up and moved over the sink, burying the face under the cold water. When she looked up, Meredith looked at her in mirror; she saw Derek standing behind her smiling.

"Stop Derek" Meredith snapped at him and shut off the water. "I can't- be pregnant!"

"Let's do a test when we get to hospital, ok?"

"No Derek!" Meredith turned around and pushed him away from her way. "I can't be pregnant- not now." She stormed out of the bathroom and returned in bedroom.

"But it is the possibility to be, so we have to check." Even though, Meredith was angry, Derek was still calm, less smiley, but not discouraged by Meredith's denial.

"Derek, please stop!" Meredith begged him looking back at him.

Her terrified face worried him again. "Come and sit here." Derek took her hand and led her to bed.

She took a seat and Derek kneeled in front of her. "Meredith, but what if- what if you are pregnant?"

"Derek" She pleaded him with her voice and her eyes to stop.

"What if, Meredith?"

When Meredith started crying at his question, Derek felt his heart sinking. He set down on floor, looking ahead in blank.

"I hope I am not!" Meredith stood up and started to get dress.

-----------------------

Because the morning sickness brought the very early to hospital, Meredith took a shower in locker room.

Her friends found her laid down on a bench already dressed in her scrubs, when they came in.

"What happened with you?" Christina asked her.

Meredith noticed her friends' presence, so she stood up. "Nothing- just tired"

If the others seemed fine with her answer imagining the reason for her tiredness, Alex knew her too well and he knew that was something else, worse than the sex happening to her, so he hurried and changed into his scrubs. When he was done, he grabbed Meredith's arm and pulled her up from bench.

"What are you doing, Alex?"

"We need to talk." He said without giving too much attention to her struggle to escape from his grip and continued to drag her after him.

"I don't want to talk."

"I don't care, now come!" Alex was determined to find out what had happened to her that brought her into that state, so he dragged her out of the locker room.

He closed the door behind them and took her into a quiet corner.

"Now tell me what happened and please don't tell me it's nothing." Alex stood in front of her and took a serious position in front of her, crossing the arms against his chest.

"I might be pregnant." Meredith murmured staring at the floor.

"Again?! You might be pregnant, again?" Alex asked surprised but a little amused too in the same time.

Meredith gestured a nod without looking at him.

"God Meredith! I thought the last scare made you wiser and you would protect yourself more, coz from what I see, you are not thrilled at all by the idea of becoming a mommy!"

"Alex please!" Meredith looked up at him sad. "You can twit me about this later, now I can deal it."

"Fine" Alex leaned against the wall next to her. "Does Derek know?"

"Yeah- he drew me the blood earlier."

"What does he say?"

"He was excited, this is the problem and I am not."

"He was?!" Alex asked her confused.

"He was- until he saw I am not and he asked me what if."

"And? What if?"

Meredith shrugged. "I hope I am not!"

Alex put an arm around her and brought her to him for some comfort. "But still- what if?"

"Alex" Meredith cried out begging him not to make her say it.

"Mer, Derek loves you and you would be an excellent mother!"

"Alex" Meredith pulled herself away from him. "Are you saying I should keep the baby?"

"You love babies, Mer! You often used to tell me how anxious you was to become a mother."

"And I still am, but not now! I am only an intern and this is already too exhausting for me!"

"Would you want to lose Derek when you know very well you can have all?"

Meredith sighed knowing that Alex was right. "I will never have sex again, if I am not pregnant this time either!"

"Now you are overreacting, Mer! Try some pills; you don't have to be that radical!" Alex joked hoping that she would taste his joke.

She smiled slightly and put her head down on his shoulder. "We had such a great day yesterday!"

"So you found a house!"

"We did and it's gorgeous, but it also makes me think that Derek wishes more from us- he wants a family!"

"Now don't freak out! I am sure he does and you do too, but it doesn't mean he wants it right away! You should talk to him straight about you two!"

"I will" Meredith said silently.

Right in that moment, Bailey was coming to locker room, when she saw Alex and Meredith. She could tell from Meredith's face that something was wrong.

"The assignments" She informed them and walked inside.

Meredith and Alex followed her.

"Yang and Stevens, you two will work with Shepherd today, Karev you are with Sloan, Grey on scut…"

"What? Why?" Meredith protested.

Bailey held a hand up for her to shut up and continued. "and O'Mailey you go with Burke! Now all go, Grey stay!"

On his way out, Alex squeezed Meredith's arm for encouragement and followed the others outside.

"I want you to know that what happened with Anthony wasn't your fault, but what I don't understand, Meredith is why do you have to complicate your existence at Seattle Grace with your personal life?"

Bailey's tone as she said that was calm and like sympathetic, which is why Meredith remained stunned looking at her.

"Hey Grey" Bailey clapped her fingers in Meredith raising her voice.

"Oh sorry, is just that…um" Meredith rambled.

"Save it!" Bailey helped her and cut her ramble. "I know, but it's on my duty to make sure that you are alright!"

"Thank you!" Meredith smiled.

"Don't thank me; I told you… it is part of my job! Now tell me why do you make your life so complicated?"

"So you are not a fan of Shepherd's either!" Meredith concluded.

Bailey looked at shaking her head as disapproval. "Meredith, you are doing very well so far as doctor, you have the luck to have Ellis Webber as a mother, Chief Webber is also by your side supporting you, you should use your last name wiser."

Meredith smiled. It did not surprise her at all what Bailey had just told her. She was often hearing from many people that line. This time it was her turn to shake her head and disapprove Bailey's words. "I am sorry for what am I about to say and I appreciate your concern, but Dr. Bailey- you don't know anything about Ellis Grey or Ellis Webber, whatever you want to call her and you also don't know anything about my last name. I don't know anything about my last name either. Ellis is my teacher, my boss, your mentor, but she is not my mother, as for my father, the man who gave him his last name- I don't even remember him- he is a stranger, an unknown person for me! I can easily say that I am orphan." Meredith almost laughed at her own conclusion. "I've never felt Ellis as my mother, I am calling her mom maybe because that's how you have to call the person who gave you birth- actually probably my birth was the only time when Ellis was my mother." If at first she tried to stay calm and let herself overwhelmed by that subject, at this point tears had started to fill her eyes.

Bailey had listened her very careful and when Meredith took a break to breathe, she took her arm and led her to take a seat on bench with her.

"You have no idea how much I hate my last name" Meredith sighed. "I would give anything not to wear this name anymore and just to be called Meredith and Derek-" Meredith paused for a second. "He is the best thing that happened to me so far."

Then, the silence fell over them. Bailey kept staring ahead and Meredith to floor. Bailey nodded silently and looked at her.

When she felt her eyes on her, Meredith spoke again. "Besides I might be pregnant."

Bailey took a shocked face. "Fool!"

"I know" Meredith smiled and looked at her.

"But I was fool too in my first year as doctor and now I am a mommy!"

Meredith looked surprised at her. She didn't know Bailey was a mother.

"Yes I am a mommy and I am proud to be a mommy! My husband and my son make go on through each day." Bailey stood up and looked at her. "You might feel like you are going to die, but you can do it."

"So can I get something surgical?" Meredith asked hoping for a positive answer.

"So you are on scut!" She snapped. "Now go!"

Meredith nodded and hurried outside.


	38. Take it slower!

During the same morning.

Derek stepped into an elevator and met Mark in there leaned against the wall.

"Hi" Derek saluted him, but just to be politely, because his current mood was not very friendly for anybody.

"Hey stranger!" Because they were alone in there and because he saw him so down, Mark got back on his feet and came behind him.

Derek turned his head into his direction and nodded.

"Now what is wrong with you? Did you find out that Meredith is not such a great roommate as I was?" Mark found it amusing to joke in that moment.

"Please Mark! I am not in the mood." Derek asked him quietly.

Just then, the door opened and Derek stepped out. Mark wasn't that kind of man who would be happy with an answer like that and followed him out.

"Where are you going?" Derek stopped and turned around when he saw that Mark was following him.

"I have work to do." Mark grinned patting Derek's back and started to walk with him.

Derek shook his head knowing exactly what Mark was doing. He removed his arm away from his shoulder and walked faster. That didn't discourage Mark and kept following him. When they passed by an office, Mark grabbed his arm and pushed him inside.

"Come on Mark! I told you I don't want to talk to you!" Derek snapped at him angry.

Mark didn't get scared and locked the door. He leaned against a desk, arms crossed and waited for Derek to speak.

Derek knew there was no chance to get rid of Mark, so he gave up. "Meredith might be pregnant." He said taking a seat on chair and putting his head into his hands.

Mark looked at him confused for a few seconds. "Umm-ok and- " Mark wasn't sure what he was supposed to say seeing Derek like that. "Should I say congratulations or that the abortion is a solution?"

Derek looked up at him and shot him a deadly glare.

"What?" Mark jumped in defense. "I don't know what am I suppose to say. Look at you!"

"I think Meredith doesn't want to keep the baby if she is pregnant."

Just then, Mark understood. "You can't blame her, Derek. She is only an intern and right now, a baby is not what she wishes."

"But I would help her!"

"I know you would, but try to see from her point of her view; she is young, she is just getting started; you can't tie her to a family right now. My opinion, the age difference is the cause of your misery."

"You're right!" Derek nodded his head. "She is not seriously getting involved in this relationship. Sometimes I think she is in just for sex."

"Now please don't kill me because I am right; you hurried."

"I know" Derek sighed disappointed. "I hurried asking her to move in together."

"Well- you didn't get married so it's not late to end it!" Mark said.

"True, but what if she is pregnant?"

Mark shrugged. "I don't know."

Luckily for him, Derek was paged, so for a while he would be able to keep his mind away from his worries and questions.

Later that day, Derek got a message on his cell phone. He checked it and saw Meredith's number.

"_The on call room from the third floor is empty. Please meet me there! Meredith"_ He was still not in the mood to deal with her, so he decided to ignore it.

Meredith set in the on call room after she sent the message to Derek waiting for a reply from him or for him to show up. She laid down on bed squeezing in her hand the unopened envelop with the test result.

Meredith got more and more panicked with each minute that was going by and Derek didn't seem to show up anytime soon. In that moment, she was happy that Bailey put her on scut, not being able to focus on anything. All kind of dark thoughts continued running through her mind; if she was indeed pregnant, then she was ready to keep it, now all she needed was to tell it to Derek too.

After a while, Meredith checked her watch. Had passed 30 minutes and Derek was not there yet.

She got back on her sit and took her cell phone.

"_Please come, Derek! I am still here."_

She sent the message and put aside the cell phone. "Maybe he is into a surgery." She said to herself trying in that way to keep her faith.

No, he wasn't into a surgery. She had met Izzie and Christina right before she got there, and both were crying out about how slow the day was in neurology.

Minutes later, she had lost her hope. She wiped the few tears that had formed in her eyes and tore the envelope. Now, no matter what the result was, she had to move on.

Somebody knocked on door right when she was about to unfold the paper. Meredith put the paper down and waited for that person to come in.

The door opened immediately after that knock, and Derek made his appearance in the doorway.

"We need to talk, Meredith!" He said quietly and very depressed.

"Yeah- we need to talk!" Meredith said it same as Derek. She tried to give him a small smile hoping that would make him feel better.

Derek walked in and closed the door keeping his eyes away from Meredith, so her attempt failed.

Meredith stood up and took the paper from bed. "I got the result!" She said.

Derek answered her just with a nod from his head.

"I didn't want to read it without you- I was about to, because you weren't coming!"

"Just read it already!" Derek burst with a harsh tone looking at her for the first time since he got there.

Meredith was shocked by his reaction and tears started to fill her eyes again. She managed to gather her thoughts and to wipe the tears.

Meredith looked down at that paper and she was about to unfolded, when she stopped and put it aside on bed. "Derek" She needed to let him know about something before she could read the result. "I thought about this very well and if the result is positive, then I am going to keep the baby."

"Why?" Derek asked irritated. "Don't do it for me!"

"I wouldn't do it for you; I would do it for me, for us. I want to have a baby, and this is not the perfect time, but I am sure that I can do it. I could have this baby, because I know I have your support and with you it would be easier." She paused waiting for a reaction from him.

Derek didn't seem that angry anymore, but he just gestured her to read the paper, while he took a seat on bed.

Meredith unfolded the paper and read it. "Negative" She said. She should have felt relieved with that result, but she knew that Derek wasn't happy. "I am sorry, Derek!"

"I am sorry too, Meredith!" Derek looked up at her.

Meredith didn't know how to read his face expression, the tone of his voice in that moment; she came next to him and set down.

"I am sorry for push you so fast in this relationship!" Derek continued when Meredith came beside him.

"I love you, Derek and I want to be with you. This is the reason why I agreed to move in with you, but we have to…"

"Take it slower" Derek didn't let her finish her sentence and he completed it for her. He wanted to show her that he understood her.

Meredith looked at him more hopeful. "Yeah" She nodded and even she smiled slightly. "Moving in with you was a big step for me and we should built this step by step"

"I know" Derek smiled slightly as well. "You are right"

"So you are not mad of me anymore?"

"No, I am not. I could not stay mad of you for too long" Derek's smile became bigger and his face brighter.

"Good" Meredith started to feel better also.

"How are you feeling? Still nauseas?"

"No; I am fine now! It must have been something I ate."

"Yeah and I think I know what was the cause" Derek chuckled and grabbed her arm to bring her on his lap. "It was the dozen of ice cream you ate last night."

Meredith laughed slapping him playful. "You are saying this just because I didn't want to share it with you"

"I am saying it because it's true" Derek kissed her lovingly.

Meredith responded him with the same affection, hugging him and kissing him long.

Derek pulled back and looked into her eyes smiling. "I think we should take more care with the contraception from now on, because I don't know if I am capable to stand another false alarm."

"Me neither" Meredith giggled and kissed him. "I'm getting on pills."

"Good"

"Good"

"So how is your day so far despite our little and insignificant fight?"

"It was not that little and insignificant our fight, because I think we needed it."

"True"

"And my day is very boring, being on scut."

"I can do something about this." Derek gave her a smirk.

"You can?!"

"I can, but are you up to pass over Richard's decision?"

"At this hour, in this moment, I am ready to do anything with you." And as she said that, she put her arms around his neck and started kissing him.

"Hmm- as much as I love this, we should leave it for tonight." Derek pulled back starting to brush gently her hair.

"We can't, because I am on call tonight." Meredith answered him with another kiss.

"No" Derek groaned disappointed.

Meredith started to kiss his neck. "Sorry, so we do it now or tomorrow."

Derek sighed and pulled back again. "Tomorrow, because now I have to scrub in."

"At lunch then."

"I am off after this surgery."

"You are?! How come?"

"I have to be home; we will get everything fixed today, plus I will buy sheets and pillows."

"No pillows, please!" Meredith put a pouted face.

"Now you don't want pillows anymore?" Derek asked amused seeing her silly face.

Meredith shook her head smiling.

"Maybe you don't want one because you don't need it, but I do, so I am sorry! We'll have pillows."

"Fine" Meredith groaned pretending to be disappointed.

"Are you coming with me in the OR?"

"Sure, I am coming!" Meredith stood up from his lap and took his hand.

Meredith decided it would be better if she wouldn't assist Derek in the OR, and because Derek understood, Meredith took a seat in gallery and assisted him from there. It was a banal surgery, a brain aneurism, a surgery that she had assisted many times with Derek, so it was not such a professional loss.

Because of that, no other interns and doctor came to watch the procedure and she was his only viewer.

Somewhere around the middle of it, the door opened and the silence broke with Izzie and Alex's giggle, who stepped in pushing into each other.


	39. Not such a bad roommate

"You could have stayed longer in the on call room, if you are not done yet" Meredith suggested them very amused.

Neither Alex nor Izzie hadn't noticed Meredith's presence in there, until she said that. Both of them stopped and took a seat on each side of hers.

"Hi Mer" Alex rubbed her arm friendly and with some pity in his voice. He hadn't talked to her since morning, so he wasn't up to date with the news.

"How are you Mer?" In the same attitude, Izzie came right after Alex.

Meredith looked at them smiling, knowing their worries.

"I am fine," She told them smiling as she patted their legs.

"We can see your fine, Shepherd looks fine too, but what does this mean?" Izzie asked her pointing in the same time down to OR. "Are you pregnant or not?"

Meredith looked at the interphone. "Is it off?"

Alex, who was the closest to it and looking at it he nodded his head, "Yes, it is"

"I am not pregnant," she said looking down at Derek.

Alex and Izzie looked at each other strangely. Meredith's attitude as she said that was emotionless; they couldn't tell if she and Derek were completely fine.

"Mer, you know you can talk if you want" Alex told her.

"You don't believe me" Meredith looked at them.

"Derek looks much better than this morning, you look better too, but still it looks like something is not fine"

Meredith looked at Izzie as she said that and then, back down at Derek. "We talked and we are fine"

"How about you?" Alex didn't seem to want to give up.

"Alex" Meredith groaned a little annoyed by his insistence.

Alex showed her a look to stop with that and speak.

Meredith gave up sighing and smiled when Derek looked up at her. "We are fine, I am fine… I am just a little a scared."

"Ok" Alex said waiting for her to continue.

"You should see the house" Meredith started speaking without taking her eyes from Derek. "It's beautiful, big and… perfect for a family"

"I hope we'll get to see it soon!" Izzie said excided.

Meredith smiled slightly at her with a nod from her head; it was obviously that Izzie didn't know her that well, since she didn't understand what Meredith was referring at. Alex on the other hand, understood.

"Did you talk about this?" He asked her.

"We did" Meredith turned her look to him. "I told him we should take it slower and he agreed."

"Ok, then what's the problem?"

"There is no problem"

"Come on Meredith, say it already!" Alex almost shouted her at her irritated.

"Alex" Izzie jumped with an accusing look for his tone.

"This turned into a serious relationship and I …" Meredith said but let out a sigh and stopped.

"And you have never been into a serious relationship so far," Alex knew her that well, that he could complete the statement for her.

"That's right" Meredith smiled.

"Mer, I have never been into a serious relationship so far either, but if you take it slowly then you will get used with it." Alex continued.

For that, Meredith looked at him smiling and then at Izzie, who looked as if she was about to burst into tears.

"That is so…" Izzie started very touched by Alex's words. "… so sweet" All of the sudden she jumped on Alex's neck over Meredith.

Meredith pulled back a little not to let herself squashed by Izzie. "Ok, you two get out of here now!" She said pushing Izzie away from her.

Izzie pulled back on her seat smiling and stood up in the same time with Alex. Alex took her hand and led her to door.

"Though I don't believe that Richard pays you for your personal activities," Meredith shouted after them laughing before they could walk out.

Alex stopped in the doorway and looked back at her smiling. "You can take him after he finishes in there." He said pointing down to Derek.

Meredith smiled watching them until Alex slammed the door after him and then, her eyes fell back on Derek. If even Alex had the courage to admit that he was in a serious relationship with Izzie, then she should not freak out that bad, Meredith thought to herself.

A while later, when the surgery was about to end, Meredith got a message on her pager. She took it out and checked it; Dr. Bailey paged her with a 911, so she hurried to leave, not before sending one more glance to Derek. Derek caught her with his eyes right when she was about to get out of the gallery and though his wasn't visible because of the mask, they both shared a smile.

Meredith found Bailey when she stepped in elevator to meet her on the 3rd floor.

"Grey, you were fast" Bailey said rubbing her hands. "You are lucky" She continued pressing the button for their destination.

"Ok" Meredith dared to smile slightly, since her mood improved a lot since that morning.

"Initially, I paged Karev because Sloan has to go, but since he didn't answer my call I thought I should ask you."

"Ask me what?"

"To scrub in with me for a rupture on esophagus; this would not be your first surgery of this kind, right?"

"That's right! I scrubbed in once with my mom… uh Dr. Webber."

Bailey noticed the way that Meredith changed immediately the word mom. "You can talk to me whenever you need" She told her showing an emotion that she rarely shows… at least inside the hospital.

Meredith smiled, once again surprised by the softness that the Nazi showed her today. Bailey noticed Meredith's amusement and her face took her well known frowned expression. "I am your teacher and if you are in a break down I need to get you fixed and prevent any stupid thing from you while you are on my watch."

Meredith smiled knowingly and both rode with the elevator in complete silence, Meredith smiling discreetly at the thought of how much she owed Alex now, for this opportunity, while he operated on Izzie.

It was late that day when Meredith ran into Derek on her way to cafeteria.

"Hey, hey take it easy" Derek caught her in her arms when she almost tripped over him. "What's with this hurry?"

Meredith straightened herself getting back on her feet. "I am starving"

"You're starving and you still have the energy to hurry like this?"

Meredith rolled her eyes smiling and just then she noticed that Derek was already dressed in his scrubs. "What are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to be home and make that place habitable?"

Derek sneaked an arm around her and gently pushed her to start walking. "Everything is ready" He leaned to her whispering.

"Ready?!" Meredith leaned back a little looking at him surprised. "Did you demolish it or you bought a new one?" She questioned almost laughing.

Derek sniffed and pulled her back to him for a quick kiss. "I am a brilliant man and you are very lucky to have me" He chuckled. "And the address is the same"

Meredith rolled her eyes and continued walking with him towards the cafeteria.

"We even have sheets and pillows now."

"You are very efficient, I must say" Meredith knew he was looking for his ego to be bragged, so she helped him a little with that.

"Impressive huh?"

"Argh" Meredith groaned. "very impressive, just stop already"

"You are a horrible roommate" Derek sniffed letting her waist go and took a fake hurt puppy dog face.

"Last evening on the dinning table and then during the night I was the worst roommate ever." Meredith leaned to him and whispered avoiding the curious ears from around them.

"Hmm… now that you mentioned those moments, you might not be such a bad roommate, but you still have to show me more skills of yours" Derek looked at her with a dirty smirk on his face.

"I cooked… that was one of my skills that I hope it impressed you" Meredith answered casually trying to avoid a conversation that might lead to some inappropriate gestures from them.

They weren't hiding anymore from anybody, but they promised to Richard that they would stay professional at work and right in that moment, Derek didn't seem like he can control himself.

"Now stop with this if you don't want any other false alarm and argues." Meredith continued patting discreetly her belly.

"I am good boy" Derek smiled nodding and both walked in cafeteria heading straight to the coffee cart.

Derek bought two coffees for them and then they took a seat down to a table.

"How are you feeling?" Derek asked her more serious this time as he took a sip from his coffee.

"I am much better now" Meredith answered. "Alex got laid and I scrubbed in thanks to that."

"As long as the part with Alex getting laid didn't include you too, then I am happy for you!" Derek replied jokingly.

Meredith just smiled broadly. He was way too charming and too McDreamy, and she could not be more grateful for that; to have him as her McDreamy. _"Can he be the love of my life?"_ She leaned back on her chair dreaming and she didn't even saw when Derek had leaned over the table staring at her. She jumped when Derek poked his fingers in front of her.

"What?" She asked pushing him back to his seat.

"What were you dreaming of?"

"Of nothing" She said avoiding his eyes a little embarrassed by her own thoughts.

"Well I excuse you if I am the one who are you dreaming about" Derek smiled leaning on the back of his chair.

Meredith smiled wide and took a sip from her cup "Now that I have your forgiveness can we get to a serious talk?" She put the cup on table, trying to adopt a serious attitude.

"Is something wrong?" Derek asked her a little worried when he saw how her face expression changed.

"Yes, something is wrong" Meredith replied trying to hide as much as possible the smile formed in the corner of her mouth. "There is always something wrong with that house"

Derek groaned throwing his head to back "What is wrong with it now?"

"It has white walls… I mean I feel like I am living into a freaking hospital when I am in that house, Derek." Then she took back the cup of coffee and took another sip from it smiling.

Derek shook his head amused. "We'll paint it"

"Good" Meredith answered sharply, but this time without being able to hide her smile.

When she was about to say something she heard her pager. She took it out to check it and then she stood up. "I have to go; I hope you are not mad of me anymore!"

"I was never mad, Meredith" Derek smiled to assure her of that.

Meredith smiled looking at him. "Maybe I will see you later before you go home"

"Maybe" Derek smiled and mouthed "I love you"

"Me too" Meredith mouthed back and then she turned around leaving to answer that call.

Derek watched her until she was out of his sight with a content smile on his face. Because of that, he didn't notice Mark's presence at his table.

"So you forgave her after all" He said following Derek's line of sight towards Meredith as he took Meredith's seat, across from Derek.

That broke Derek's gaze and made him grin at Mark. "We are good again"

"Derek, if you forgave her just because you spent a lot of money on that house, then let me tell you that it wasn't such a good reason. You can find another woman to bring and live with you there."

Derek shot him a glare. "Shut up, Mark!"

"Whatever," Mark sighed leaning on the back of his chair.

Just then Derek saw that something was not fine with Mark. He wasn't grinning and making nasty comments as usual; now he was sitting there in that chair as if he was collapsed in it and the sky had fallen over him.

--------

**The next updates will be much brighter than the last ones. I hope you will enjoy reading them.**


	40. I want to sleep with you

Just then Derek saw that something was not fine with Mark. He wasn't grinning and making nasty comments as usual; now he was sitting there in that chair as if he was collapsed in it and the sky had fallen over him.

"Now what it's wrong with you and where are you going at this hour?" Derek asked seeing him dressed in street clothes.

"I just came back from somewhere" Mark sighed playing with a napkin. "Man I need a drink tonight, so please ask your girlfriend to give you the permission and join me"

"You are so…" Derek smiled shaking his head, but didn't continue his sentence. "You can come over to our place tonight"

"Derek, I asked you to join me for a drink alone, not with Meredith"

"Meredith is on call tonight, so you can come"

"I hope you have to bar filled with liquor"

"We can stop and buy some, now tell me what is wrong?"

Mark stood up and looked around him. "I am not opening the mouth in this hospital. The last thing I need right now is to give them a reason to talk about me."

"Is it that bad?"

Mark just starred at him and then he turned around walking away. "Find me when you are ready to go"

Derek watched him leaving with a strange look on his face. _"This is definitely a bad day"_ He said to himself rubbing his face with frustration and then he stood up and returned to his patients.

---------------------

It was around 9 o'clock when Derek ended his work at hospital and stepping into an elevator to go home, he met Meredith in there.

Because they were alone, there was nothing to keep them apart when the door closed and Derek pulled her into his arms. "I am glad I found you to give you a good night kiss"

Meredith smiled wrapping her arms around his neck. "I am glad you find me too"

"How is it going?" Derek asked her holding her into his arms.

"Everything is going great… I'll spend the night in pit and I am almost sure that I will get some blood tonight, so… my day is improving"

Derek raised an eyebrow suspiciously "You sound more and more as Christina… creepy."

"Good thing that I am not living with Christina anymore" Meredith giggled kissing softly his lips.

"I saved you in time" Derek chuckled and right when he was about to kiss her, they heard the elevator ringing and the door opening, so they had to pulled apart.

"How about my good night kiss?" Meredith whined whispering when she saw the crowd of people coming inside.

"Come with me!" Derek took her hand and dragged her out from elevator, though that wasn't their initial destination.

"Derek, where are we going?"

When they got out of the elevator, Derek let her hand go. "Keep your voice down and act casual" He told her adopting the same attitude. "We don't want to catch curious eyes"

As he said that he opened the door from an on call room and discreetly he pushed her inside.

Once that the door was closed, Derek pulled her back into his arms kissing her as his hands easily making her lab coat fall and from there, spreading all over her back touching and caressing everything. He lifted her wrapping her arms around him, as he propped himself the door, without breaking the kiss for a single second.

Meredith hands clung onto his hair moaning quietly by the taste of his hot and sweet kiss. "You have a condom, right?" Meredith managed to murmur pulling her head back just a few inches away from his.

Derek groaned hitting his head back on door.

Meredith sighed and kissed his lips quickly. "Good night then!"

Derek put her back down looking deep in her eyes as his fingers playfully were twisting her hair. "I am sorry!" Derek said smiling, the regret already imprinted on his face.

"It's ok" Meredith smiled as encouragement and bent down to pick up her lab coat.

Derek sighed. "I guess it's better like this, because Mark is waiting for me"

"Going out?" Meredith questioned straightening the lab coat on her body.

"Yeah… something is wrong with him and he needs some moral support."

As he said that, Derek noticed the way that Meredith raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"

"Mark needs a moral support and you are going to give it to him?"

"Yeah" Derek replied more curious because of her reaction. "He is my best friend, why shouldn't I be there for him?"

Meredith giggled shaking her head amused. "It's great that you want to be there for him, but you know what kind of moral support he responds too… I hope you won't give him that kind of moral support!" Meredith adopted a serious look.

"Meredith" Derek almost shouted stunned by the things that her mind could cook.

"Ok then" Meredith laughed leaned on him "I trust you!" She said dropping a kiss over his lips.

Derek shook his head laughing and his arms pulled her into a tight hug. "I am going to miss you!"

"I might miss you too, though hopefully I won't have time for it" Meredith smiled as tease.

"You will cut open many people tonight and you will still miss me"

"Sure" Meredith pulled back smiling. "Take care of Mark and behave yourself" She said it to him as advice.

"I will" Derek chuckled kissing her one more time. "And you have fun"

"I will"

Derek let her arm go and turned around to open the door. "Bye"

"Bye Derek"

----------------------------

Derek sped up back to the main lobby, where he found Mark pacing around nervous. "Finally" He shouted when he saw Derek coming. "What took you so long?"

"Calm down, Mark! I am here now" Derek rolled his eyes as annoyance.

"You were supposed to be here 20 minutes ago."

"Something retain me, but now I am here; 20 minutes later, but I am here"

"Whatever… let's go now! I will follow you with my car"

Saying that, Mark walked ahead letting Derek worrying what could have possibly happened to him that brought him into that state.

As they walked into the parking lot, Mark stopped. "I think I will take your car, because you will have to drive me back home later."

Derek looked at him worried. It was for sure that something had happened to Mark.

"Stop dreaming and hurry up, Derek" Mark shouted after him leaned against Derek's car.

Derek opened the car without any other comment and let Mark in.

They drove in silence; Mark continued tapping his leg as nervousness while Derek gave him repetitive glances.

"Mark, you know you can talk now if you feel like you can't hold it until we get home" Derek told him.

Because he was paying attention to road, Derek caught just for a second the frightened look that Mark gave him.

"You are scaring me, Mark" Derek told more worried after Mark's new face expression. "What in the heck did you do?"

Mark opened the mouth to say something, but the words dissolved back on his tongue and only a sigh came out.

Derek stopped the car at the red light and looked at his friend. "Mark"

Mark looked at him guilty and then ahead out on window.

"What did you do?" Derek asked desperate to find out once for all. "Did you kill someone or what? Just say it."

Mark looked at with the same mixture of guilt and fright on his face.

"You didn't kill anyone… did you?" Derek's eyes grew huge scared of what his answer could be.

"Derek is green so go already" Mark shouted at him pointing the traffic light. "I will tell you when we get home so stop."

Derek shook his head and sped up.

-------------------

After she said good night from Derek, Meredith went down in pit. For her disappointment, there were just a few cases with minor injuries, most of them needing stitches and bandages.

She was writing down in some charts, when she saw Christina coming in with a bag of candies in her hand. Meredith followed how Christina was making her way to her and then she took a seat on counter.

Meredith gave her a look waiting for her to justify her presence there at that hour, but Christina handed her the bag with candies. "Want some?"

Meredith put aside the chart and leaned on counter, facing Christina. "No, but I would like to know what are you doing here?"

"Just checking to see if there is anything interesting in here," Christina replied as she threw another candy in her mouth. "But I can see that it's kind of slow"

"Christina, what are you still doing here? Are you on call tonight?"

"Nope, but I am going to spend the night here."

"Why?"

Christina just shrugged and looked back into the bag to look after an orange candy. She found it and threw it in her mouth.

"Christina" Meredith had started to get irritated when she saw Christina's behavior.

"I need a reason not to go on a date tonight." Christina told her. "And I will excuse myself with being caught to hospital."

"You can't be serious"

But Christina showed her a face proving her how serious she was.

"You are unbelievable" Meredith disapproved her.

"I know" Christina replied taking Meredith's words as a compliment.

"We don't even have patients in here"

"I know, but he doesn't know that."

"You are a liar"

"I am not a liar," Christina jumped offended and threw the empty bag into the bin behind the desk. "I am in hospital, so I am not a liar."

"How can you ditch your partner in such a pathetic way?"

Christina was looking around hoping for a cool case when Meredith asked her that. She looked down and answered simple. "Like this"

Meredith looked at with a disapproving look and shook her head, before taking another chart.

"Hey, hey you don't get to judge me" Now Christina seemed more concerned of what Meredith was telling her. "If I had a McDreamy, then I would be the one asking him to a date at this hour."

"Really?" Meredith looked up at her smiling. "I thought you don't like the McDreamy type of guys."

"I was referring at my own type of McDreamy" Christina informed her. As she continued to look around her, Christina let out a sigh. "I need to find a McDreamy… or a surgery."

"Maybe you will get both tonight" Meredith laughed at Christina's unusual dreamer behavior.

"Speaking of McDreamies," Christina said looking down at Meredith. "How is yours?"

"He is fine" Meredith answered paying attention to what she was writing in that chart. "He is out with Mark."

"A guys night out, huh? Aren't you afraid of what they might do?" Christina asked her.

Her question didn't bother Meredith, so she kept her eyes over the chart. "No, why should I be?"

Christina rolled her eyes. "Meredith… two guys out + alcohol something dirty."

Meredith shot her a glare. "Mark has some kind of problem and he needs some moral support, so no I am not worried."

"Some moral support?! Doesn't this include women?"

"Not necessarily; Derek is going to give him some support."

"Doesn't this sound gay?" Christina asked her.

"Christina"

"What? I am processing what you said."

"There is nothing gay in this."

"Are you sure Derek is not gay?"

At that question, Meredith snapped at Christina nervous "Christina, shut up!"

"I am mean… you can't be sure; what if he is gay and he fakes all this relationship thing with you?"

"Christina, if you don't shut up then I am going to suture your mouth."

"Whatever, be naïve"

"Argh" Meredith returned to her chart, trying to get over Christina's nasty comments.

"So you are not pregnant, are you?" It was obvious that Christina was extremely bored at that hour and not wanting to go on her date with Burke, she found an activity bugging Meredith.

"How do you know about this?" Meredith looked up at her curious, unaware of how many people found out about her false alarm.

"Debbie told me"

"The nurse?"

"Yep"

Meredith looked away worried. "How did she find out?"

"Meredith, everybody knows now about you and Shepherd; it's not a secret anymore… anyway I totally understand why you freaked out… it was because of all the moving in with Derek thing."

"How do you know I freaked out?"

"Izzie told me"

Meredith shook her head smiling. "Then Izzie must be the one who informed the entire hospital about all these."

But Christina wasn't there to hear Meredith's last statement, because she had already run to attend an emergency.

It didn't take long to Meredith to realize that so she ran to take her patient back from Christina.

-----------------------

Before getting home, Derek and Mark made one stop to buy a bottle of scotch for Mark.

When Derek stopped the car in front of the gates, he could see how Mark's terrified face slightly smiled looking out on window on window. Then was when Derek calmed down a little at the thought that Mark's problem might not be as bad as he thought, since he found kind of amusing his new house.

Derek opened the gates and their next stop was in front of the house. At this point, Mark started to laugh at Derek.

"Were you surprised why Meredith backed out?" Mark asked him pointing to house.

Derek didn't like Mark's comment too much so he responded straight. "Now this is what you needed to make you feel better? Coz a few minutes ago I could have swear that you were about to kill yourself."

Mark sniffed and got out of the car.

Derek followed him out and unlocked the door. Once again, when they walked inside Mark had an amused reaction looking around him at the big house, but then he saw Derek's glare so he stopped.

Derek went in kitchen to bring two glasses and let Mark to give a look around the living room. When he returned, he found Mark lay on couch in front of the TV surfing through channels.

"So what do you think?" Derek asked him as he took a seat next to him on couch and removed Mark's legs from the coffee table to place the glasses on it.

"Man, considering all the money you spent buying this house, you should have bought an audio station." Mark responded opening the bottle to fill the glasses.

"Until earlier we didn't have cable either, but I really don't understand why I asked you." Derek leaned back waiting for Mark to serve him his drink.

Mark handed him his glass and then returned to his previous position taking again the remote control to play with it. "You are old Derek," He said without looking at Derek.

"Excuse me?!" Derek laughed surprised by Mark's little compliment.

"You are old," Mark looked at him and repeated. "This is why you are in such a hurry to get married and have a family and this is why Meredith freaks out each time you are involving her in something serious. She is young and you are old. Your plans for the next years are different."

"Hold on a second" Derek turned to him. "This was your problem, coz if so then I appreciate your concern but you don't have to worry about me and Meredith."

"This is not my problem. It's yours, but if someone has a bigger problem than I do, then that makes me feel better."

"In this case I am sorry to announce you that your problem is bigger than mine so…"

"So you admit that you and Meredith have a problem." Mark interrupted him, pointing that out.

Derek groaned annoyed and put his glass down on table. "Just tell me already what the problem is."

Mark poured the entire liquor, which was filling on half the glass, entirely down on his throat. After that, he poured another one and just held the glass. "Do you remember Angela?" He asked him starring at his own glass.

"No"

"The cute blonde one I met while I was walking Doc?"

Derek took a few moments trying to remember.

"Come on Derek, for a brain surgeon you are a too slow" Mark burst annoyed.

"I can't remember the cute blonde one, because I met more than one cute blonde in your apartment." Derek snapped at Mark's nervous tone.

"I walked Doc just for a few times so that you can have some free time with Meredith… Meredith was here and she met her."

"Oh" Then was when it hit Derek. "The silly one… you walked her dog once."

"She wasn't silly" Mark responded a little offended.

"Oh… and she was so young" Derek showed his regret. "How did she die?"

"Derek, are you trying to piss me off?"

"You said was!" Derek jumped in defense.

"She is not dead" Mark clarified the confusion and then took a deep breath and muttered some words "butsheispregnant"

Though Mark's words fast and muttered, Derek spitted his scotch as he heard him. "She is what???" Derek didn't know if he should burst into laugh or to cry.

Mark was now leaning on the back of the couch staring down at his glass.

"It's yours, isn't it?" Derek continued to ask him though Mark didn't give any sign to be in the mood to reply soon. "But are you sure it's yours?"

Mark nodded, still staring over his drink. "She was virgin" He muttered.

That was too much for Derek to hold inside and burst into a hysterical laugh. "You got… a virgin…pregnant??? Omg Mark!"

Mark shot him a glare.

"I am sorry man …it's just…"Derek shook his head laughing "…funny"

"Derek, stop!" Mark snapped at him angry as he returned on the sit up position pouring the entire content of his glass down on throat.

Derek rubbed his face trying to relax his facial muscles from that entire laugh and tried to adopt a serious attitude. "At least tell me she is not underage"

"She is not" Mark muttered as he poured himself under drink.

"So what is going to happen now?" Derek asked him.

"I don't know" Mark's answer came quiet.

"Will you give the baby your name?"

"I will… I guess" Mark looked at Derek. "I am not such a jerk."

"You are not a jerk but you are not sure if you want this baby?" Derek laughed with irony.

"Just stop, Derek! Please!" Mark looked at him serious. "I told you this because I am not sure what I am going to do."

Derek gave up on tease and irony and adopted a serious attitude himself. "Do you want to have a baby?" He asked him simple.

After a few moments of silence, while Mark kept his look down over his glass he muttered. "I don't know! I never thought about this."

"But are your sure it's yours?"

"We went out a several times and she was…so yeah… I guess it's mine" Mark rambled admitting into a final that he is the father.

"I can't believe you are going to become a daddy before me" Derek leaned back on couch, shaking his head. "And you are not even sure if you want a baby."

Now was when Mark felt Derek's disappointment and understood how much Derek was wishing for a family.

"Hey, you can have it if you want" Mark replied to Derek's face expression in his own style.

Derek continue to shake his head with disapprove for his friend's statement. "You are the one who deserves the less to have a baby, but with all these you are going to have one."

"Life is a bitch, I know!" Mark stated taking another gulp from his drink.

"Yeah… it sure is" Derek agreed with a heavy sigh and sunk on couch.

"Now you don't have any reason to be depressed for, but I do have" Mark said as he poured Derek another drink. "You and Meredith will have a baby one day, just wait for her to finish the first year… you know you can't ask her too much at this time."

"I know" Derek's answer came dumb and took a sip from his re-filled glass.

"Why did you hurry and get involved in a serious relationship post- Addison?"

Derek looked up in defense. "I didn't hurry… I didn't plan to fall in love again that soon." He tried to justify himself. "But it happened and now I have to …I have to deal with it."

"We are so different…" Mark shook his head with pity for Derek. "You know what I question myself from time to time?"

"I know…" Derek laughed. "Why are we friends" He chuckled when Mark looked at him surprised. "You don't question yourself only… you question me too."

Mark smiled and nodded. "Meredith looks like she could be a good mom one day."

Mark's statement shocked Derek. He looked at his best friend and he for a moment he could not recognize him.

Mark noticed Derek's gaze and understood its reason. "What?" He snapped at with a glare.

"Nothing… it's just that this is the first nice thing you ever said about Meredith. Am I looking that bad? Do I look like I need mercy?"

"We both need mercy these days" Mark answered with a groaned as he lay down on couch, moving his legs on Derek's lap.

At first, Derek had the intention to protest at Mark's gesture, but in the next second he gave up and sighed.

"These women messed us up completely" Mark muttered throwing an arm over his eyes to cover them.

"Yeah" Derek agreed silently.

"I hate them"

Derek opened the mouth to agree with Mark again, but then he realized Mark was overreacting.

Mark said it expecting for Derek to approve him again, but when he saw Derek's silence he took the arm away from eyes and looked at him. "You are the most screwed from us"

"Maybe- or maybe not… Are you going to marry her?" Derek asked him.

Mark looked at him again terrified. "No"

"Does she at least have the legal age? She looked like she has, but still… you never know."

"She has the legal age, Derek" Mark snapped at him. "I am not that idiot to sleep with teenagers… she looks young, but she is not as young as she looks like."

"Ok, but… what are you going to do now?" Derek repeated the question.

"I told you I don't know" Mark burst angry one more time before falling back on couch. "What do I do?"

Derek just shrugged.

After a few minutes of silence, while Derek thought that Mark had fallen asleep.

"Can I sleep over?" Mark muttered keeping his eyes closed.

"Sure… we have a guest room ready."

"This couch is good." Mark reached over the coffee table and put the glass on it.

"I will bring you a blanket." Derek took his glass and left the room

After a while he returned with a blanket and found Mark already snoring drunk. He covered him with the blanket, turned off the lights and headed upstairs.

Derek took a quick a shower and after he did his toilet he returned in bedroom. He found some trousers and pulled them on, then he removed the covers from bed and he sunk in it. Only after a while he found the energy to pull them back on him; he wasn't that tired, but the alcohol made him a little dizzy and Mark's story even distraught. Derek grabbed a pillow and hugged it, burying his face in it; it didn't have anything from Meredith's scent in it since the sheets were brand new, but as his thoughts flew over her he felt the need to hug something. Mark might had been drunk and with he might also not be the right person to give advices regarding the love life… especially not at that moment… but with all these he was right. Derek didn't plan to fall in love so soon after his disastrous relationship with Addison, but he found Meredith and he could not help it. Now she is an intern and there are also her issues with her mother and the fact that this is her first serious relationship… these made Derek realized he rushed her too much. She agreed to move in together and that was a prove that she loves him; just for better sex or maybe for building a future with him, she did move in with him and this was a first short step ahead for their relationship. He loves her and she loves him… without a doubt.

After all taking it slow might be fun he smiled how all these started.

Soon as he started thinking on what Meredith was doing in that moment, Derek fell asleep. Not for long though, because after almost 15 minutes he startled when he heard some tramps down the hall and some doors slamming.

He rushed out of bed and went to check what was going on.

"There you were" Mark shouted dizzy and stumbling along the hallway he was making his way to Derek.

"Mark, what are you doing?" Derek rubbed his face trying to get back from scare.

"Man I can't sleep downstairs… it's scary… I don't like big houses." He whined walking toward Derek.

"I can give the guest room" Derek said walking toward Mark, where the room was located. But when he passed by Mark, he saw him walking in his room. "What do you think you are doing?"

"_I want to sleep with you"_ Mark shouted from inside the bedroom.

Derek groaned angry and walked after him.

"Which one is your bedside?" Mark asked him when Derek walked in. "I don't want to get into a fight with Meredith."

"Mark, go to the other room!"

"Derek, which bedside is yours?" Mark repeated his question.

"You will sleep on floor" Derek told him pointing the floor. "The carpet is comfortable"

"You can't let me sleep on floor Derek! I am your friend… a human being… and I am in a lot of pain" Mark acted hurt. "So which bedside?"

Derek sighed and shook his head. "Choose which one you want" he mumbled.

"Are you sure?"

"Just get in bed, Mark!" Derek yelled angry.

"Fine, fine" Mark took Derek's previous place in bed and snuggled between sheets.

Derek barged sleepy to bed and collapsed on the other side of the bed. He pulled the covers over him turning his back on Mark. "I hope you don't need cuddle"

"Actually I do need a cuddle after this terrifying news, but since Meredith is not here then I will have to fall asleep without one." Mark was having his back on Derek too, when he said that and for his comment, Derek hit him hard with his feet.

Both fall asleep, each of them on the edge of his bedside and with the back turned to each other.

**-------------**

**Are you ready for the next one:D**


	41. Was I that drunk?

**Oh please no sneak peeks. This is fic is almost up to date here!**

**------------------------**

It was a little passed 5 a.m. when Meredith pulled the car in front of the house. She unlocked the front door and made her way inside the house.

From the doorway you could have a direct look over the living room, so she saw the bottle of scotch on the coffee table though it was still dark outside. Then she said to herself that Mark must have been there.

She was too tired to do something else and even to go to kitchen for some water, and lazy she climbed out the stairs towards her bedroom.

As she was walking with slow steps down the hall, Meredith undid her coat and took it off. She grabbed the knob and twisted it slowly not to wake up Derek. Meredith pushed the door open and walked inside, but as she did that, Meredith froze in shock.

The curtains weren't closed, so the moonlight lightened up a little the room and Meredith could see very clear the things inside of it.

She was completely shocked for a second, but then, right away she made efforts not to burst into laugh at the view of Mark and Derek sharing the same bed. Derek was lying on back and Mark was snuggled right next to him keeping an arm over Derek's body.

Meredith put the bag and the jacket down on a chair, trying to make as less noise as possible, following to take off her shoes too and walked slowly on tiptoes to Derek's bedside. She giggled silently and then she took a deep breath and turned the pilot light on yelling the same time. "I can't believe you Derek! This is unimaginable... I would have never thought that you would be able to do something like this to me!"

From Meredith's first shout, Derek opened wide his eyes, but completely lost in space and time. "What?" He mumbled rubbing his eyes and trying to clear his head.

"You said he needs comfort, but I wouldn't have thought that you would give him this kind of comfort!" Meredith continued her shouts and tried to look as serious as possible.

"Crazy woman" At this point, Mark woke up too, mumbling from Derek neck.

Just then, Derek noticed how close Mark was sleeping to him and immediately he pushed him away. "Mark, what in the hell are you doing here!" He yelled standing up. "I told you to stay on the other side of the bed."

Mark jumped out of bed stunned "OMG! Was I that drunk?" But as he got up on his feet and rubbed his face, Mark looked at himself and saw his clothes still on. He sighed with relief when he saw himself still dressed. "God I think I am going to die!" Mark cried and looked around the room. "Where is the bathroom?" He asked but he didn't wait for their answer noticing the bathroom from their bedroom.

"Hey, hey! Don't you dare to get in there!" Meredith jumped immediately. "Use the one from down the hall."

Mark shot her a glare and walked out of the bedroom wincing with pain. _"My head weights a tone"_

Once that Mark was out of there, Meredith looked back at Derek with a fake glare. Derek's face was a mixture of embarrassment and guilt, absolutely priceless for Meredith, who was struggling to play the pissed off girlfriend role.

"Derek" She brought some anger in her voice as she said his name.

"Mer" Derek removed the covers away from him and got out of bed taking her arms. "It's not what you think it is."

That was something that Meredith could not resist and burst into a hysterical laugh collapsing in Derek's arms.

"You faked everything" Derek shouted amused as he was hugging her. He held her into embrace just for a second because then he pulled back and grabbed the left side of his shirt wincing.

Meredith's laugh stopped instantly and grabbed his arms with panic. "Derek, what's wrong?"

Derek took a seat on the bed's edge still looking in a lot of pain and as Meredith bent over him, he grabbed her arms and pulled her down on bed laughing.

"You were faking!" Meredith gasped nervous and started to slap him.

Derek moved on top of her starting tickling her. "You were faking jealous too"

Meredith started laughing hysterical under his tickles as she was struggling to make him stop. "Just stop Derek"

Derek stopped and brushed a strand of hair away from her face keeping her body under his. He lowered his head to her and kissed her.

Meredith allowed him to kiss her just for a short time, because then she pushed his head away from her. "I can't believe you made fun of me like that."

"I can't believe you made fun of me saying I am gay." Derek laughed pressing one more kiss on her lips.

Meredith was laughing too at the scene of those two in the same bed. "You were so cute... 'it's not what you think it is'" Meredith continued to laugh hard as she quoted him. "I am so sorry I didn't take a picture of you two!"

"You would have been very sorry if you had done it." Derek laid down beside her, bringing her to him.

Meredith rolled over facing him and sneaked an arm around him. "So this is what you are referring at when you say moral support." Meredith mocked him. "You know... Christina just warned me about you too and I can't believe she was right."

"You are so cute" Derek chuckled and cupped her cheek to kiss her. "And so funny"

"And you are so gay" Meredith laughed.

Derek flipped her onto her back and returned on top of her. "Do you want me to show you how gay I am?" He started unbuttoning her sweater.

"Yeah... I guess you have to show me" She answered to his movements by running her hands through his hair. "You know what ..." Meredith spoke up breaking the kiss "I really enjoyed seeing you two so cuddled together... you were so cute and... so sexy" She mentioned the word 'sexy' with a smirk. "Now I have all kind of fantasies in my head"

"You do?" Derek chuckled. "I can satisfy you any fantasy" He said kissing the line of her jaw. "...as long as we don't include Mark in our fantasies"

"No Mark?" Meredith put a pouted face to tease him.

"No Mark" Derek took her mouth in his to make her stop with the jokes.

As they were both kissing fervent completely lost into the passion of their act, Mark returned in bedroom.

"Derek, I need clean clothes and please don't have sex right now... it makes me sick" Mark mumbled grumpy from the doorway.

While Derek rolled over from Meredith, Meredith raised her head to look at Mark laughing. "Why don't you come and join us?"

Derek shot her a glare before he looked back at Mark. "Go and pick something from closet!" Derek made himself comfortable beside Meredith, waiting for Mark to pick up some clothes and leave the room.

Mark chose one of Derek's shirts and a pair of pants and then he headed towards the door. "Derek you have to give me the ride to hospital so keep your pants on."

"Mark" Meredith called him before he could walk out.

Mark stopped in the doorway looking back at her.

"Do you want to join us?" She giggled, kissing Derek right after that.

Mark frowned angry at her and stormed out without closing the door on his way out. Meredith was laughing very amused when she saw Derek glaring her.

"Oh don't be jealous" Meredith mounted him, brushing his hair with her fingers and kissing him softy. "At what our do you have to be at hospital?"

"I am not in a rush..." Derek answered kissing her jaw seductively as his hands sneaked under Meredith's clothes making their ways up to her bra.

When she felt his hands unhooking her bra, Meredith pressed on hard kiss on his lips and climbed down from him.

"What is it?" Derek asked her confused.

Meredith put her head down on his chest and took his hand in hers, intertwining their fingers. "We should leave it for tonight" She sighed and for the first time since she got back home she looked how exhausted she was. "You have to drive your friend to hospital."

"Mer, he can take my car"

Meredith looked up at him smiling and kissed his neck. "I am exhausted" As she said that she put her head back down on him.

"Hard night?"

At this point, they both started talking almost in whispers.

"Yeah" Meredith sighed.

"Any cool surgery?"

"No, but the pit was crowded because of the flu."

Derek slid a hand under her and kissing her forehead, he held her in his arms.

"So what is Mark's problem that made him jump in your bed?" Meredith asked him after a few moments of silence.

"Stop referring at this like it would be a dirty thing." Derek told her smiling. "We were just sleeping and I am not sure I can tell you."

"Derek, are you keeping secrets from me?" Meredith looked at him with a frown on her forehead.

"Mer, this is Mark's problem and I am almost sure that he doesn't want me to tell anyone."

"Derek" Meredith took a crying tone.

Derek kissed her pouted lips smiling "Sorry"

"I will tell everybody what I saw here earlier." Meredith threatened him.

"And do you want to be the girl whose boyfriend is known as gay?"

Meredith looked at him quiet. "Please tell me!" She pleaded him again.

But again, Derek kissed her. "No"

"Is he sick? Does he have any disease? Is it syph?" Meredith asked him repetitively with curiosity.

Derek chuckled amused. "He is perfectly healthy."

"Then what did he do? What's his problem?"

"I thought you were exhausted."

"I am"

"Then take a shower and go to sleep" Derek kissed her and stood up.

Meredith grabbed his arm fast stopping him. "It has anything to do with his love life?"

Derek removed her hand from his smiling. "Sleep well"

At Derek's answer, Meredith gasped as an idea struck her. "He is undersexed!" Derek just looked at her shaking his head amused. "It's this, isn't it?"

"Do you want to come down for breakfast?" Derek asked her ignoring her nasty comments.

"You would have never thought that something like this is possible" Meredith also ignored Derek's question, shocked by her own conclusion. "Poor Mark"

Derek returned down to her and kissed her. "It's not this either and now drop it!" He kissed her again. "So are you coming to eat something?"

Meredith shook her smiling. "I'll go straight to sleep" And as she stood up in her sit, she took out the sweater from her. Then, she got under sheets in the middle of the bed. Derek laid over her and kissed her. "I'll see you later"

Meredith nodded sleepy.

"I love you!"

"Love you too!" Meredith whispered closing her eyes. "So Mark has sexual dysfunctions huh?"

Derek looked at her laughing. "We'll talk about this later!" he pulled the covers upper on her and then he stood up heading to door. "Sleep well, Mer!"

-------------

Because of Mark's rush to leave that house, they skipped breakfast and had just a quick coffee. All the way to hospital, Mark had the same depressed expression on his face as in the previous evening, when Derek drove him home. Only that this time, Derek wasn't that worried for his friend and he was kind of amused by all the things that had happened so far: Mark a daddy-to-be, Meredith making fun upon the scene between him and Mark and Meredith's own conclusion regarding Mark's problem. Derek did try to hide his good mood, now wanting to piss off Mark more than he already was and both rode in complete silence until hospital.

When Derek pulled the car in the hospital's parking lot, for the first time, Mark took his look away from his window and moved it over Derek.

"Are you going to stay here?" Derek asked him when he saw that Mark wasn't showing any intention to unfasten his seatbelt.

"I am in a big shit" Mark replied depressed.

"It's not that big" Derek patted his shoulder smiling and opened the door to get out of the car. As he shut the door and walked away from the car, Derek saw Mark standing inside and staring at him. He went over to his door and opened it for him. "If Meredith sees me now, she wouldn't joke anymore upon the scene from this morning, so hurry up and get out!" He said bending down to Mark.

"What did she say?" Mark snapped panic.

"Get out Mark!"

Mark finally unfastened his seatbelt and got out of the car. "You didn't say anything to her I hope." He stated shutting the door.

"She doesn't know anything" Derek smiled and locked the car.

"You are not allowed to tell her"

"I won't tell her" Derek assured him and both walked towards the hospital. "But you can't keep this baby secret for too long."

"I know, but I am not ready yet to be known as the daddy-to-be."

Derek patted his back and both entered in hospital heading towards the elevators. They caught one as they got there and because they were the only passengers in there, Derek continued their chat about Angela and their unborn baby.

"Does she know you want her to keep this baby?" Derek asked him.

"No" Mark replied "But can I have a break please from this thought?"

Derek patted his friend's back with sympathy as the door opened and they walked out. "It'll be fine you see… it's not such a tragedy" Derek put his arm around Mark's shoulders as he addressed him those encouraging words.

"I can't believe this!" Only that after that gesture, a female voice gasped when they walked on the surgical floor. "I was right?!"

Mark and Derek looked over into her direction and saw Bailey explaining something to her interns and Christina's eyes wide open and the dirty smile on her face.

"Oh no" Derek muttered as he remembered what Meredith had told him about Christina.

"What's wrong?" Mark questioned his friend confused.

Mark looked at him and shook his head. "It's nothing… you go ahead1"

Mark shrugged indifferent and walked away, while Derek headed to Bailey and her interns. He stopped by Christina's side and sneaked an arm around her waist. "Dr. Bailey, can I have Dr. Yang for a second."

"Take her" Bailey motioned to him and then to the rest of the interns to follow her.

As he got Bailey's permission, Derek started pushing her from back.

"Uh…what are you doing?" Christina asked him curious.

"Don't worry… I am gay remember?" Derek chuckled and finding an empty exam room, he pushed her inside.

When they stepped inside, Christina hurried ahead so that she can release herself from Derek's arm.

Derek closed the door and for a few seconds he just starred at her smiling.

"Ok…" Christina gestured to him to speak.

"I started to know you better and I must admit that I am very shocked by the sense of humor you have" Derek started.

Christina chuckled. "You know what is so funny?" She asked him amused. "That I was joking about this trying to tease Meredith, but now to find out that my joke wasn't actually a joke is just hilarious."

"Well since you seem to be a person with a lot sense of humor, I would like to keep you around neuro for a while."

Christina's smirk faded away instantly as she heard Derek.

"I'll go tell Bailey" Derek opened the door and smirked back at Christina.

As he walked out, Christina followed him running. "I was just joking… really… it was just a joke!"

----------------------

**Lol I told you it's getting brighter and it will stay this way for a while. :D**


	42. Staying in neuro for a while?

Because of Mark's rush to leave that house, they skipped breakfast and had just a quick coffee. All the way to hospital, Mark had the same depressed expression on his face as in the previous evening, when Derek drove him home. Only that this time, Derek wasn't that worried for his friend and he was kind of amused by all the things that had happened so far: Mark a daddy-to-be, Meredith making fun upon the scene between him and Mark and Meredith's own conclusion regarding Mark's problem. Derek did try to hide his good mood, now wanting to piss off Mark more than he already was and both rode in complete silence until hospital.

When Derek pulled the car in the hospital's parking lot, for the first time, Mark took his look away from his window and moved it over Derek.

"Are you going to stay here?" Derek asked him when he saw that Mark wasn't showing any intention to unfasten his seatbelt.

"I am in a big shit" Mark replied depressed.

"It's not that big" Derek patted his shoulder smiling and opened the door to get out of the car. As he shut the door and walked away from the car, Derek saw Mark standing inside and staring at him. He went over to his door and opened it for him. "If Meredith sees me now, she wouldn't joke anymore upon the scene from this morning, so hurry up and get out!" He said bending down to Mark.

"What did she say?" Mark snapped panic.

"Get out Mark!"

Mark finally unfastened his seatbelt and got out of the car. "You didn't say anything to her I hope." He stated shutting the door.

"She doesn't know anything" Derek smiled and locked the car.

"You are not allowed to tell her"

"I won't tell her" Derek assured him and both walked towards the hospital. "But you can't keep this baby secret for too long."

"I know, but I am not ready yet to be known as the daddy-to-be."

Derek patted his back and both entered in hospital heading towards the elevators. They caught one as they got there and because they were the only passengers in there, Derek continued their chat about Angela and their unborn baby.

"Does she know you want her to keep this baby?" Derek asked him.

"No" Mark replied "But can I have a break please from this thought?"

Derek patted his friend's back with sympathy as the door opened and they walked out. "It'll be fine you see… it's not such a tragedy" Derek put his arm around Mark's shoulders as he addressed him those encouraging words.

"I can't believe this!" Only that after that gesture, a female voice gasped when they walked on the surgical floor. "I was right?!"

Mark and Derek looked over into her direction and saw Bailey explaining something to her interns and Christina's eyes wide open and the dirty smile on her face.

"Oh no" Derek muttered as he remembered what Meredith had told him about Christina.

"What's wrong?" Mark questioned his friend confused.

Derek looked at him and shook his head. "It's nothing… you go ahead1"

Mark shrugged indifferent and walked away, while Derek headed to Bailey and her interns. He stopped by Christina's side and sneaked an arm around her waist. "Dr. Bailey, can I have Dr. Yang for a second."

"Take her" Bailey motioned to him and then to the rest of the interns to follow her.

As he got Bailey's permission, Derek started pushing her from back.

"Uh…what are you doing?" Christina asked him curious.

"Don't worry… I am gay remember?" Derek chuckled and finding an empty exam room, he pushed her inside.

When they stepped inside, Christina hurried ahead so that she can release herself from Derek's arm.

Derek closed the door and for a few seconds he just starred at her smiling.

"Ok…" Christina gestured to him to speak.

"I started to know you better and I must admit that I am very shocked by the sense of humor you have" Derek started.

Christina chuckled. "You know what is so funny?" She asked him amused. "That I was joking about this trying to tease Meredith, but now to find out that my joke wasn't actually a joke is just hilarious."

"Well since you seem to be a person with a lot sense of humor, I would like to keep you around neuro for a while."

Christina's smirk faded away instantly as she heard Derek.

"I'll go tell Bailey" Derek opened the door and smirked back at Christina.

As he walked out, Christina followed him running. "I was just joking… really… it was just a joke!"

**-----------**

**One more will be up later today. Please review!**


	43. Home treatment

Meredith was into a deep sleep, completely sunk between the sheets when the alarm blared to wake her up. A hand slipped from under covers and looking after the alarm, it hit the snooze button. Then, the hand fell lazy beside the bed and the silence fell over the room again.

After 15 minutes, the alarm started to blare once again. This time, Meredith started to cry and because her head was too heavy to be lifted from pillow, she started to drag herself out of bed, slipping down along with the covers. She hit the floor and winced in pain, but then she started to release herself from covers and got up on her feet. Just then she turned off the alarm

It took her a several seconds to clear her and then stumbling she made her way to bathroom. She stopped and leaned over the sink. Her eyes looked up in mirror and when she saw her exhausted and pale face, Meredith groaned and splashed some cold water over her face. Then she shut the water and propped her weight, once again, against the sink.

Her head was feeling like shattered because of the pain, as if she had drunken tequila all night in the ER. There was also the nausea and the pain from all her muscles that were making her feel miserable.

When she pushed herself away from sink, because of the sudden move, she ran over the toilet feeling the urge to throw up the entire content from her stomach. Meredith stood there vomiting for a while, and only when she felt empty she flushed the water and she fell down on the bathroom floor, lying there powerless.

As she was lying there like that, she could feel the ceiling spinning, so she closed her eyes trying to make that pass. "What is wrong with me?" She muttered quietly.

Her cell phone started to ring, so with a groan, Meredith rolled over and standing up on her knees she grabbed the bathtub's edge and helped herself up on her feet.

She barged back in bedroom and started to look into her bag for her cell phone. Once she founded she flipped it open without looking at the caller's id. "What?" she snapped angry.

"_Well it's nice to hear your grouch voice"_ Derek joked at the other end of the line. _"Are you ok?"_

Meredith took a seat on the bed's edge sighing. "I am fine… I think"

"_You can't be fine"_ Derek continued joking. _"Waking up alone in bed it doesn't make you feel fine"_

Meredith smiled as she was listening to him.

"_Now tell me what is wrong?"_ Derek asked her more serious this time.

"I don't know" Meredith sighed. "I guess I am too tired."

"_I will ask the Chief to give you the rest of the day off"_

"You don't have to… I will drink some coffee and I will be fine"

"_You sound like you could need more than just coffee."_

Meredith giggled. "Maybe"

"_Food Meredith"_ Derek laughed. _"I was referring at food, but if you need something that you can't get by yourself, then hurry to hospital."_

"I am on my way" Meredith giggled.

"_I'll be here waiting for you"_ Derek replied laughing. _"I love you and drive safe!"_

"Mhm" Meredith replied sleepy and hung up the phone. She threw it in bed and sighed. "At least I know I am not pregnant."

After a shower and a sip of coffee, she left to hospital.

Once that she arrived at hospital, Meredith changed into her scrubs and went to find Bailey. She met her in elevator while she was heading up to the surgical floor, where she knew she would find her.

"Dr. Bailey, hello!"

"Dr. Grey" Bailey greeted her without taking her eyes from the chart she was reading, but when she did look up at her, she could see how bad Meredith was looking. "Did you take the pregnancy test?"

"I am not pregnant... I am just a little tired."

"You are not a little tired... you look extremely exhausted!" Bailey replied looking careful at Meredith's face. "You should have stayed home"

"I should have, but now I am here, so what do you need me for?"

"In the state you are now, I need you to take it easy, so you will be writing charts for a few a hours."

"Dr. Bailey" Meredith whined.

"Don't..." She cut her off "You might have a boss who willing to be commanded by you, but I am your boss and you do what I say, are we clear?"

Meredith nodded resigned.

"If you will feel better, then I will send you in pit." Saying that Bailey walked out of the elevator when they reached to their floor and Meredith followed her.

Meredith got the charts from Bailey and took a seat to start working on them. Just then she realized how grateful she was to Bailey for giving her that duty.

Not even three hours later Meredith wasn't feeling better; contrariwise, she was feeling weaker and more nauseas.

Derek saw her in cafeteria, when he went to buy a coffee; he hadn't seen her since he left from home, so he went over to her table.

Meredith was drinking from her water and reading a medical journal, when Derek took a seat on her table.

"I thought you would come to say hi" Derek spoke up and took Meredith's hand to get her attention.

Meredith looked up at him and smiled. "Hi"

Derek noticed too how bad Meredith was looking. "It's not just the exhaustion, isn't it?" He asked her worried.

"I don't know what it is" Meredith sighed and took another sip from her water.

"Do you want a coffee?" Derek asked her handing her his cup.

As she felt its smell, Meredith pushed his hand way. "I can't stand the smell"

"Mer, what's wrong?" He asked her even more worried. "You are a doctor too so you should know what are the symptoms?"

"I am not pregnant" Meredith joked smiling at him.

"I know... you won't scare me again with that. Did you eat anything today?"

Meredith shook his head. "I am feeling too nauseas to eat."

"Is this water the only thing you ingested all day?"

Meredith nodded.

"Mer" Derek sighed and rubbed her cheek with his thumb. As he did that, he could feel how warm she was. "Meredith, you have fever" He stated worried. "You should be home in bed"

"I have five hours left from this shift and besides, I am not getting in contact with patients today... Bailey made me to write charts."

Derek looked at her and shook his head smiling warmly at her. He took his coffee and stood up. "I'll see you in a while"

"What are you doing?" Meredith asked him, suspecting what he had in plan.

"I am doing my job" Derek chuckled and walked away.

After she left the cafeteria, Meredith ran into Bailey.

As she saw her, Bailey grabbed her hand and analyzed her face. "Go home Grey!"

"But I am in the middle of the shift." Meredith said.

"No" Bailey took the chart that Meredith was holding. "You are at the end of it... get well soon" With that, Bailey walked away.

Meredith had opened the mouth to say something, but when Bailey turned around she took a second thought and convinced herself that it would be better if she goes home. She wasn't in the state to walk either.

After she changed back into her street clothes, Meredith walked out of the locker room. When she got out, she saw Derek leaning against the wall beside the door, waiting for her smiling.

"You did this" Meredith smiled.

"I told you I am doing my job" Derek chuckled and wrapped an arm around her waist leading her to exit. "Let's go home!" Derek kissed her head.

Meredith leaned against him, feeling the need to lay down.

"Now I want you to go upstairs and lay down while I make something to eat" Derek led her towards stairs.

"But I can't eat anything" Meredith whined feeling another wave of nausea as she heard the word 'food'.

"I can make something eatable, so stop whining now and wait for me upstairs." Derek pushed her to make her step on the first stair. "And I want to find you in bed."

"Derek, I am not in the mood for sex" Meredith found the energy to joke.

"I know, but I want to make sure that you will be in the mood tomorrow" Derek chuckled as he headed towards kitchen.

Derek found Meredith sleeping, very well tucked under covers. He put the tray with the steamy bowl on a night stand and took a seat down on bed beside her.

Derek brushed the hair away from her face and leaned down kissing her forehead. "Mer" He called her name in whisper and shook her gently. "Mer, wake up! You have to eat something."

Meredith opened her eyes slowly and as she got awake, she could feel the smell of the chicken soup. Surprisingly, that didn't make her feel nauseas, so smiling weakly at Derek, she got up. Derek settled some pillows behind her and put the tray on her lap.

"Try it!" Derek gave her spoon and urged her to eat. "Or do you want me to feed?" he asked her with a suggestive smile on his face.

"I am capable to eat" Meredith giggled and took the spoon from her.

After she swallowed the first spoon of soup, Meredith felt for the first time that day the hunger.

Derek was watching very amused how in just a few minutes she emptied the bowl.

"Can I have one more?" Meredith asked him showing him an innocent smile.

Derek leaned over her and kissed. "You would have starved to death without my cooking skills."

Meredith giggled as she cupped his face and kissed softly his lips. "Luckily I found you!"

Derek kissed her back and took the tray with him to refill the bowl.

"You can eat too you know… it's very good" Meredith shouted after him laughing.

"_Is it? Alright then… if you are recommending it."_ Derek shouted back from the hall.

Saying that, Derek left her with a bright smile on her face; she felt a little more refreshed after that soup and especially after Derek's care, but still she could feel her body numb and her head panting because of the pain. With all these she didn't worry too much, blaming the symptoms on exhaustion.

Derek returned in their bedroom, carrying this time a tray with two steamy bowls. He placed the tray on Meredith's lap. "Hold it steady!" And Meredith grabbed it with both hands while Derek climbed in bed and slide under covers next to her. "You can keep the tray" He told her taking one of the bowls.

"Dinner in bed?" Meredith giggled looking at him.

"It's our bed, our house so we can do whatever we want to" Derek smirked and leaned to her kissing her cheek.

"No parents"

"No parents" Derek chuckled and took the first spoon with soup to his mouth.

"Cool" Meredith giggled

"Yeah, now eat before it gets cold" Derek took the other spoon from tray and handed it to her.

Meredith smiled and took it.

"So what hurts?" Derek asked her when they had almost finished their meal.

"My head, my entire body"

"Are you still nauseas?"

"No, now that I ate… I am much better."

Derek sat the bowl back on tray and got out of the bed. He leaned down and kissed Meredith, then he picked up the tray. "Maybe you are just exhausted. Try and have some sleep."

"I'll wait for you" Meredith smiled sliding under covers just a little.

"I'll hurry then" Derek chuckled and walked out of the bedroom.

When he returned, Derek found Meredith stripping a pillow. "What are you doing, Meredith?"

"This smells like alcohol and I think Mark might have drooled on it." She said with disgust as she disposed the pillowcase down on floor.

"I am sorry for that" Derek laughed and jumped in bed next to her. "But I thought you don't need a pillow."

Meredith turned towards him smiling and laid back down. "Now I don't need a pillow"

"Come here" Derek laid down too and opened his arms to receive her.

Meredith snuggled in his arms, placing her head down on his chest. "Please don't bring that man in our bed again… not even if he has been castrated."

Derek laughed as he kissed the top of her head. "He is still a man, Mer"

"Yeah… maybe it was an accident, so I feel pity for him." Meredith mumbled keeping her eyes closed. "But how did this happen?"

"Meredith, he is fine… his virility is fine, so drop this subject."

Meredith opened the eyes and looked up at him. "Then what is wrong with him?"

"I thought you were sick" Derek looked down at her drawing her jaw's outline with his thumb.

"I am … I feel like I am going to die and please don't let me die without knowing what happened to Mark." She put out some pouted lips.

Derek smiled brushing her lips. "You are not going to die, so you might find out one day, now sleep." He ran his hand over her eyes to make them close.

Meredith sighed resigned and put the head back down on him. "I really feel like I am going to die." She mumbled.

Derek held her in his arms with both arms, so as she said that he rubbed gently her back. "Did you take an aspirin?"

"I took two"

"Try and sleep, maybe you will feel better… if not, then in the morning I am taking you to hospital to run you some tests."

"Ok" She sounded sleepier this time, but the pain was still present in her voice.

Derek turned off the light and positioned himself comfortable keeping Meredith in his arms. He continued to caress her back gently until he felt her sleeping. He kissed her head one more time and then he closed his eyes and tried to sleep and banish the worry away.

Holding Meredith in his arms for several hours, during the night Derek felt half of his body numb, so he woke up to change his position a little; but as he woke up, he felt his shirt and Meredith's entire body sweat. He looked down at Meredith, who was sleeping peacefully in his arms and he could see drops of sweat on her forehead and touching her cheeks, Derek knew she was having fever.

"Mer" Derek whispered as he shook her gently. "Mer, wake up"

Meredith groaned sleepy.

"Wake up, Mer! You are burning and you need to change your clothes." Derek continued, turning on the light this time.

As he did that, Meredith cried and opened the eyes slowly trying to adjust her vision to the light. "I am sleepy, Derek" She mumbled moving from him and collapsing on the other side of the bed.

Derek got out of bed and opened their closet to find her something to wear. He took out a gray blouse with long sleeves and a pair of trousers in the same color as the blouse. He brought them over in bed and placed them near Meredith. "Do you need my help with these?" Derek asked her joking.

"Derek" Meredith, on the other hand, was not in the mood for jokes; all she wanted in that moment was to go back to sleep.

"You can't stay in those clothes" He stated serious this time and held out his hand to help her up.

Meredith took it and with his help, she got up in her sit. "How are you feeling?"

"Exhausted" She mumbled taking off her shirt.

Derek helped her to put on the blouse and then he helped her take off the pants too. He could notice how she was wincing each time he was squeezing her flash.

"You must have gotten the flu when you were on call last night" Derek examined her face as a doctor. "Did you take your shot for prevention?"

Meredith just shook her head sleepy as she drew the clean pants up on her legs.

Derek smiled and shook his head with disapprove. "Are you allergic to penicillin?"

"No" She mumbled and slide back under covers.

"I'll be right back!" Derek stated as he stood up from bed. "Don't fall asleep right away." And with that, he left the bedroom.

After a couple of minutes, he returned with a syringe and a cotton ball.

Meredith had fallen asleep in the meantime, so once again Derek started to wake her up. "Roll on your face, Mer" he tried to bring her on one side. "Come on, one shot and you will go back to sleep"

But Meredith groaned and refused to let herself dragged in the position that Derek was trying to bring her.

"I am taking you to hospital" Derek threatened her.

"Fine" Meredith replied in a husky and annoyed tone as she rolled over onto her face and drew down the pants from her butt.

Derek watched her smiling and cleaning the spot where he would do the shot, he stuck the needle in her skin.

Meredith winced sleepy hugging tight the pillow under her.

"Stop crying like a baby, Mer!" Derek chuckled. "You are a doctor... you know how it is."

"Hurry up and stop starring at my a.ss!"

Derek took the needle out and rubbed the spot. Then he pulled up her pants and slapped her playfully.

"Derek" Meredith complained dragging the covers over her.

Derek left to dispose the syringe and returned very soon. He got in bed again and after he turned off the light, he brought Meredith closer to him and spooned her. It took him some time until he fell back asleep, wanting to make sure that Meredith was sleeping peacefully again.

Meredith started to wake up hours later. As she was waking up, she could hear the thunders breaking her in her windows along with big rain drops. She opened her eyes slowly and since her face was turned towards windows she watched how the rain was draining off on windows. She contemplated the image, sleepy and without moving any part of her body.

Only after several minutes she realized it was light outside already and she remembered the hard night she had.

Meredith jumped up in her sit and looking on Derek's bedside, she could see he wasn't there. Her eyes glanced the clock that and in the next second she jumped out of bed panicked. "OMG OMG"

As she got up on her feet, because of the hurry she got dizzy, so she stopped waiting for it to pass. It passed quickly so spinning around the room she found her cell phone.

She flipped it open and pressed the speed dial.

"_Meredith?"_ Derek answered confused. _"Why are you calling me?"_

"What do you mean why I am calling you?" Meredith snapped at him. "Do you know what time is it? Why didn't you wake me up?"

"_Oh Mer"_ Derek started laughing at phone. _"Calm down and I will bring you the breakfast right away."_

"What?"

"_I will be right up"_

Meredith hung up the phone angry and stormed out of the bedroom hurrying downstairs towards kitchen.

"Derek" She found Derek in there taking the toast out of toaster. "Why are you still home? And calm… and … and why didn't you wake me up?"

Derek placed the two brownie toasts on a plate and came over to her smiling. He grabbed her waist with one hand, bringing her to him and used the other one to check her forehead. "Good morning you too!" He chuckled after he felt her temperature. "You don't have fever anymore"

"Derek" Meredith whined annoyed by Derek's cheerful mood. "I'm…"

Derek didn't let her finish her protest and kissed her taking her entire face into his hands and keeping it glued to his. When he finally pulled back to catch up some air, Derek ran his thumb over her swollen lips and smiled.

He let her go and turned her around pushing her from back. "Now go back in bed and I will bring you the breakfast."

Meredith opposed and turned back to him. "Derek, I am not a baby" She complained.

Derek smiled shaking her cheek gently. "You are like a baby from time to time… for example when you don't want to take your medicine and listen doctor's advice."

"Derek, stop kidding please! I have to go to work."

Derek went over to fridge and opening he looked back at her. "I called them and told them you are sick… so now you are on bed resting for at least one day."

Meredith didn't seem that pissed off anymore after she heard that. "But what are you doing home then?"

"I rescheduled the non-emergent surgeries and I am free until noon." Derek informed her slamming the fridge's door shut and then he put a jar on table. "You like strawberries jam, right?"

Meredith smiled biting her lower lip and confirmed with a nod.

"Good, now got back to bed" Derek smiled and ordered with a parental tone.

Meredith sniffed and turned on her heels around. "Stop commanding... you are not my father." She shouted back as she walked out of kitchen.

"Thank God!" Derek chuckled. "It would have been an incest, after all the sex we had."

He heard Meredith laughing, now far from kitchen, and he just smiled shaking his head.


	44. Gossips time

When Derek came up into their bedroom, he found the bed empty and the shower going in their bathroom. He sat the tray down on a nightstand and laid down on bed, leaning his back against the headboard waiting for Meredith to return. In the meantime, Derek took out from his nightstand's drawer a book and started reading it. He didn't read it much, because soon he heard the shower stopping and put it back in.

Meredith came out of the bathroom very soon after the shower stopped dressed in the same clothes. Her face and the visible parts from her skin were red and a few strands wet from the shower.

"At least you had a hot shower." Derek stated when he saw her steaming.

"What is this suppose to mean?" Meredith asked him getting back in bed and under covers.

Derek looked at her with a serious expression on his face. "How could you not take the preventive shot against the flu, Mer?"

"Oh Derek" Meredith groaned as she rolled her eyes. "I forgot, ok?"

"No, Meredith is not ok! You are a doctor and you know how much you are exposed to different diseases."

"What's up with you? Earlier you were all funny and horny and now you started with the reproaches."

"Because I couldn't twit you when you were raving because of the fever, but now you are fine."

Meredith rolled her eyes and leaned to him; she took his cheek with one hand and kissed him softly. "My mistake... I promise I won't do it again!" She whispered against his lips and then she sucked gently Derek's bottom lip.

Derek smiled and let himself seduced by Meredith's lips on his and wrapping an arm around her, he brought her closer into him, holding her face with one hand, and deepened the kiss. Meredith moved over on his lap, sneaking her legs behind him and wrapping her arms around his neck.

Derek pulled back his head a little, breaking up the kiss and after he brushed his lips over hers seductively, he moved lower on her jaw, biting it gently as Meredith moaned.

"I am so glad you are not my dad" She breathed out the words heavy.

Derek moved from her jaw to her neck as he stated "Me too"

Meredith's arms were not around him tracing tracing lines up and down his back, until her hands reached over his shirt's hemline. She rolled it a little with both hands and started to lift it up.

Derek pulled back a little and raised his arms, so Meredith easily brought his shirt up and removed it throwing it on bed.

Her hands moved from his back to his chest, resting against it, as Derek took her head into his hands and once again his mouth found hers. While the kissing was becoming more and more intense, Meredith pulled away and moved her head over his shoulder. Derek just groaned a little and moved back to her exposed neck; just that as his mouth touched it, Meredith let out a strong and soppy sneeze on his back.

Derek instantly stopped, while Meredith wiped his back slowly and whispered "Sorry"

They pulled away and Derek reached over the nightstand to take the box with tissues he had prepared for her when he gave her the shot. He took one and handed it to her.

"That was disgusting. I think we should leave this for later or tomorrow." Meredith smiled from the corner of her mouth as she looked at him embarrassed.

"I think we should" Derek smiled and grabbed her legs to move her away from him. "But I also think you should have stopped earlier."

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah... you should have stopped with the kissing."

"Well I am sorry for being such a good kisser and I am sorry for being sick." Meredith answered back. "And you are a horrible doctor yourself too."

"I am?" Derek shouted smiling. "Because I treated your flu?"

"Because you are hitting on your convalescent patients." Meredith answered calmer as she tucked herself in bed.

Derek rolled his eyes and bent over to take his shirt back. "This" He said showing her the shirt. "You removed it! You are the patient who is hitting on its doctor."

Meredith didn't answer and just smiled looking ahead.

After he pulled the shirt back on, Derek took the tray and placed it on his lap. He took a plate with two toasts on it and handed it to Meredith. "Now eat because it's getting cold."

Meredith looked at him, smiled at each other and after a quick kiss, she took the plate.

After breakfast, Meredith laid down on bed, while Derek stood up to take the tray back downstairs.

"I am glad I can sleep more." Meredith mumbled with a content smile on her face as she moved on one side.

Derek bent down to her and kissed her temple as he brushed gently her hair. "Aren't you happy to have me?"

Meredith giggled and took out a hand to push him away. "Get over yourself."

Derek chuckled and took the tray to take it back.

Later, when she woke up, Meredith found Derek lying on bed next to her, his back leaned against the headboard and reading a medical journal. Her face was turned to him when she woke up, so Derek didn't notice her.

"You are reading my mother's book" She spoke throaty.

When he heard her voice, Derek put the book down and looked at her smiling. "Sorry"

"It's ok" Meredith smiled sleepy. "I read her books too."

Derek put a sign inside the book before he shut it and put it on his nightstand; then he slid down next to her and kissed her forehead. "How are you feeling?" he asked her gently.

"Sleepy... tired"

"You have a whole day to sleep."

"What time is it?" she asked him.

Derek looked over Meredith, on her nightstand. "10.30" he read it. "You slept two hours"

Meredith scooted over to snuggle into him and closed her eyes. "I want more."

"Sleep more then." Derek wrapped his arms around her.

After just a few minutes, Meredith spoke again keeping her eyes closed. "What's wrong with Mark?" only after she finished the question, she opened her eyes and looked up at him.

She met his smile and his head shaking as negation.

"Please tell me!" She begged him as she pulled back a little.

"I can't tell you."

"Why is such a big secret? What happened to him? What did he do?"

"Mer, I promised him I would keep his secret, so I am sorry, but I can't tell you"

Suddenly, Meredith stood up on her sit and Derek followed her. "He killed someone, didn't he?"

"No, he didn't" Derek replied calm.

"Then, what's up with this big secret?"

"Meredith, when Alex asks you to keep a secret, do you go and share it with other people?"

"Alex and I don't have secrets" Meredith answered casually and at that she met Derek's eyebrow lifted. "You don't believe me."

"No, I don't believe you."

Meredith frowned and crossed her arms against the chest with an offended look on her face.

"You are acting so childish right now" Derek chuckled and kissed her cheek.

"You know Derek..." Meredith stopped with the pouting and turned to him. "If Alex tells me a secret I would come to share it with you so that we can both help Alex, so if you tell me Mark's problem, I could help him too."

Derek smiled wide and shook his head at her. "Nobody can help Mark right now."

"Please" Meredith gave up on any other faces and started pleading him.

"Grow up, Meredith."

"Please, Derek! Please!" She took a puppy face and cuddled him.

Derek groaned and pushed her away. "You have to swear that you won't tell anyone... not even to Mark." He looked at her serious.

Meredith nodded silently.

"No, swear with words."

"I swear"

Derek looked at her with distrust. "Meredith, if you tell anyone, I ... I will be very disappointed. I trust in you that you won't say anything."

"Derek, you can trust me." She assured him.

"Do you remember Angela?" He finally asked her.

Meredith took a few moments to think and then she shook her head. "No"  
"You met her once in Mark's apartment. The silly blond one?"

"Oh... the one who walked the dogs with him?"

"That's right."

"What about her?" Meredith asked him with curiosity.

Derek breathed deeply and paused.

"Derek" Meredith tried to make him speak.

"You can't say anything." He told her one more time.

"Derek" Meredith looked at him a little worried. "I am not sure I want to find out anymore."

Derek smiled and grabbing her shoulders with both hands, he pushed her down in bed. "Good, because you are tired and you need sleep."

"Derek" Meredith opposed and pushed him away. "I am tired and I would like to go back to sleep, but I can't if you don't tell me what the heck is wrong with Mark."

"You are horrible" Derek returned on his side of bed and leaned against the headboard again. "You should stop being friend with Izzie."

"You say I should stop being friend with Izzie, with Christina... don't you want me to have girlfriends too?"

"If Izzie finds out, I will personally help Mark to torture you."

Meredith smirked suggestively and Derek shook his head laughing.

"Go back to sleep Mer"

"Tell me first and then I will fall asleep right away." She smiled childish at him.

"I really don't like you right now" Derek smiled squeezing her cheeks.  
"Derek" Meredith laughed slapping his hands.

"She is pregnant... with Mark's baby" Derek spoke up immediately and fast, shocking Meredith.

She got quiet just starring at with big eyes.

Derek tried to ignore her shock and pass over that moment. He took back the book and opened it on the page he had left off.

"Wow" Meredith managed to say into a final.

Derek just smiled and looked at her from the corner of his eye.

"This is..." Meredith leaned back against the headboard. "I am trying to process it."

"Save your brain." Derek didn't look at her, but he brushed her hair with one head.

"And she is going to have the baby?" Meredith came back from shock fast and asked him.

"Yes"

"And this is Mark's problem, right? He doesn't want her to have it."

"Look; Angela doesn't want anything from Mark, but Mark..." Derek paused not knowing if he should continue.

"He has remorse?"  
"Well... he has some, especially since she..." But he suddenly stopped realizing that he should say more to her than he already did. "Go back to sleep now" He told her.

"There is more" Meredith smiled. "There is more and you are not telling me."

"This is part of the secret, so you should keep your mouth shut about this too."

"Derek, now you are really offending me." She looked at him serious.

"She was virgin when she first slept with Mark." He said those words fast and looked back into the book.

At first, for a few seconds, Meredith was speechless, but as she processed the last information, she started laughing. "How stupid of her to lose her virginity with Mark!"

"Now Meredith, you don't have to blame her." Derek glared her.

"Are they going to get married?"

"I don't… know; not even Mark knows what to do."

Meredith laid down in bed and snuggled under covers. "Mark a father… who would have thought." Meredith muttered closing her eyes.

Derek looked ahead and nodded. "Yeah"

Meredith felt that something was wrong with him, so she opened her eyes and looked up at him. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah… why wouldn't I be?" Derek looked at her smiling.

"Because you wish to become a father more than Mark."

"I am fine" Derek smiled.

"You will become a father one day." Meredith smiled weakly at him and after Derek smiled back as answer, she closed her eyes again.

Derek watched her sleeping hoping the she would be the one who would make him a father


	45. Girls' time?

"Mer" Derek's soft voice called her name in whisper. "Meri... wake up!"

After about 3 more hours of sleep, Derek bent over Meredith, shaking her shoulder gently to make her wake up. "Mer"

"What, Derek?" Meredith finally woke up and snapped at him nervous for his disturbance.

"Alex and Izzie are here" He informed her with a louder voice this time.

Meredith groaned and drew the cover upper over her head. "Tell them to come back later."

Derek grabbed the cover and drew it back down from her head as he lowered his head to her and kissed her cheek. "They are here during their lunch break, so don't be rude."

With a sigh, Meredith fell onto her back opening the eyes sleepy. As she did that, she found Derek's smiling face hovering just a few inches away from her face.

Derek leaned down to her, keeping both hand on each side of her and kissed softly her lips. "How are you feeling?" He asked her as he put his head on her forehead.

"Good ... I guess" Meredith muttered between a yawn.

"Hi Mer" Alex's voice came from somewhere close to her left bedside.

"Hi Mer" And Izzie's voice was right behind Alex's.

As she titled her head a little into their direction, Meredith saw them standing not very far from her bed. "Hi guys" She saluted them and set her position upper on pillows.

"I have to go because I have a surgery, but I will try to come back as soon as possible" Derek told her before leaving her side. "Don't tell them anything about, Mark!" He reminded her, whispering to her ear. "You promised me."

"I did, so right now you are very annoying" Meredith snapped louder than Derek had talked to her, offended by the discredit that Derek was showing to her.

Derek didn't get upset at her burst and just smiled and gave her one more kiss. "I love you!"

"I love you too!"

Derek stood up and headed to door. "I'll see you later" He stopped for a second in the doorway to give one more glance to Meredith.

Meredith just answered him with a nod and then her attention fell over her friends, who after Derek's leaving they came to her bed immediately.

"How are you feeling?" Alex was the first one who took a seat in bed beside her. He put an arm around her shoulders to make her come closer into him.

"Much better" She mumbled with another yawn as she sat her head down on his shoulder.

"With your own doctor..." Izzie stated with a smirk. "I am sure you are better."

Meredith giggled since Izzie was damn right about that. It was great to have her personal doctor, especially after all the care that Derek gave to her.

"I must stay that I very impressed with this house. He sure has good tastes in housing." Alex stated looking around the almost empty room.

"I love the house." Izzie's statement came right away with admiration. "Especially because it's private; it is much better than roommates."

"She is right. Do you think we can kick George and Christina out of the house?" Derek asked Meredith.

"Oh yeah" Izzie was thrilled by Alex's proposal. "Can we, Mer? Please!"

Meredith looked amused at them and shook her head. "We cannot let them leave outside under a bridge."

"George sleeps a lot over her new girlfriend's place lately and Christina is always at hospital. She practically lives there." Alex stated.

"Speaking of George's girlfriend," Izzie looked at Meredith and with a smirk she let her know that she had a good gossip. "Guess who is she and where she lives?"

Izzie was a very nice and pleasant person, but her hobby for gossips was very disturbing even for Alex.

"Izzie, please!" Meredith looked at her with a glare; I am not interested. George will tell me if he wants to."

"Whatever" Izzie shrugged, not very affected by Meredith's indifference regarding her gossips. "So can we kick them out?" She asked her.

"No" Meredith snapped at them. "You said it yourselves... they hardly sleep over there, so you can say that you live together alone in that house."

"Not really" Izzie whined. "Callie slept over there for the last two nights and she is sooo annoying."

"Callie?!" That name caught Meredith's interest for gossips. "As in Callie O'Mailey the ortho resident?"

Izzie smirked at her very happy. "I knew you would find this interesting."

Meredith put aside the smile from her face and shot Izzie another glare. "It's not interesting... it's surprising, but not interesting. I am happy for George and no ... you cannot kick either of them out."

"Well... at least we tried." Alex chuckled. "Do you think we can move here with you?" He asked her after a short pause.

"No" She snapped at them laughing. "An less you want to be strangled by Derek and hung as decorations around the house."

Alex looked at her strangely as she said that and put a hand on her forehead. "Morbid... I think it's the flu."

Meredith started laughing as she pushed Alex's arm away from her.

Alex and Izzie told her about what had happened at hospital while Meredith was at home sick. Because Izzie had just a short shift, she offered to go and make something to eat for Meredith while she and Alex continued their chat about work.

"I am telling you, Meredith, this man has gone crazy. Not that he wasn't before too, but now his is worse." Alex complained to her friend about Mark.

"Why didn't you ask Bailey to assign you to someone else, or to give you something else to do?" Meredith asked him.

"You know I am interested to get a specialization in Plastics, so I hoped." Alex sighed disappointed. "I wonder what could have brought him in such a depressing state." Alex said more to himself. "He backed out most of his surgeries, he gets irritated by everything."

Meredith listened to him in silence, since she already knew what was going on with Mark. "I will ask Derek to make Mark pay more attention to his professional activity." She stated without any intention to make it sound as a favor to Alex.

"That's right!" But Alex did misunderstand her words and burst as an idea struck him. "Your boyfriend is his best friend so he must know what is going on with him therefore... you must know too." Alex looked at her suspiciously.

"I don't know anything." Meredith shook her head and tried to look and sound natural.

"Meredith, are you lying your best friend?" Alex shot her glare as he asked her that.

"Alex, why do you need to know in the first place?"

"Oh so you do know" Alex stated with a convinced nod from his head. "Meredith Grey, I want you to tell me right now." He demanded her.

"Why?"

"Because I might be able to help... or to blackmail him." Alex stated with a smirk.

"I doubt that you could help him and the blackmail is a wrong idea."

"Meredith"

"Alex, I can't tell you" Meredith snapped at him. "I promised to Derek I would keep the secret."

"Meredith, you never keep secrets from me."

"Derek asked me to keep this one."

Alex looked at her with worry and then ahead. "What has he done to you." He shook his head with pity.

Meredith laughed as she smacked his arm. "I want him to know that he can trust me. I am trying really hard to make this relationship work." She stated firmly. "I don't want to fight with him anymore upon any subject."

"From the way you are sounding right now, I can tell the baby will show up pretty soon and you will be thrilled with it."

Meredith looked at Alex and grinned after she heard him.

"What?" He asked her.

"Umm... I was thinking not to get the pills right away you know... just try and see if it happens."

Alex looked at her shocked. "Are you thinking or are you and Derek thinking about this."

"I am thinking" Meredith said. "A baby might be cute and Derek would be a great father."

Alex shook his head with disapprove. "It's a bad idea if you want to have a baby just because it would be cute and because Derek would be a great father. You should start taking the pills and wait until you would feel that a baby is what is missing from your life and your relationship."

Meredith looked at him and sighed knowing that he was right. "I guess that first I should work at how to keep my boyfriend's secrets."

"So are you going to reveal his secret?" Alex asked her with more hope.

"No" She answered naturally.

"Thanks" Alex put a pouted face.

"Oh, you will live." Meredith giggled rubbing his arm.

A few minutes after Alex's leaving, Meredith decided she should get out of bed a little and stretch her legs. She put on a flannel jacket before leaving the room and as she walked out, she headed downstairs, towards kitchen where Izzie was.

Walking inside the kitchen, Meredith saw her dressing a cake with chocolate.

"What's that?" She asked her amused as she went over to table, where Izzie was.

"I must say that Derek impresses me more each day." Izzie stated with an indeed impressed attitude. "I didn't know what to cook, because he already cooked a lot of stuffs for you."

"Pretty amazing huh?" Meredith giggled as she sat her butt on table.

Izzie glared her when she saw what Meredith was doing. "Get your ass off the table, Meredith! This is the place where you eat."

[I And where I have sex[/I Meredith hardly abstained not to laugh as she remembered what had happened on that table the other night. She stood up and sat down on a chair.

"This kitchen is fantastic! The entire house is gorgeous." Izzie stated with admiration looking around her. "I wish I will afford something like this one day."

"Maybe you will." Meredith tried to show some support.

"Yeah... maybe." She sighed depressed. "In the meantime, I have to share the same house with the annoying Christina and Callie."

"But you also share the house with Alex and George."

Izzie didn't reply and just shrugged. "You need a lot things for this house and I am not sure if you noticed, but I think you bought an incomplete set of dishes."

"Yeah" Meredith replied simple trying not to burst into laugh.

Izzie looked at her with a strangely amused look. "I don't know you for that long, but ...you are so in love."

Meredith smiled brightly as Izzie said that and her smile was also her answer. "Would you like to go out with me to do some shopping?"

"You don't have to ask." Izzie answered with a suggestive smirk.

"I will be right back." Meredith said and as she stood up, she left the kitchen immediately.

She returned a minute later with a Yellow Pages book in her hands. She slammed it on table and returning to her previous seat, she started browsing it.

"What are you looking for?" Izzie questioned while she was still spreading the chocolate around the cake.

"We have to paint the house, especially our bedroom." Meredith answered as she continued to search through pages. She found strange the silence that came after her answer and as she looked up at Izzie, she saw her smiling at her. "What?" Meredith asked her amused.

"Tomorrow I have a day off from work and... umm..."

"Do you want to paint the room for us?" Meredith asked her straight to save her from rambling and hesitation.

Izzie nodded excited as if she was a little kid who received the permission to do something cool and unique.

Meredith shut the book smiling at Izzie. "Ok then. I trust you."

"Aww... thanks so much Meredith... you are going to love your new room." Izzie clapped her hands in excitement.

"I hope so."

"What are you doing up from bed anyway?" Izzie asked her with a parental tone. "You are sick and I am supposed to take care of you."

"You are?" Meredith giggled. "Who put you in charge with this?"

"My self-consciousness and... umm"

"Derek" Meredith smiled with giggles.

"Hey... you have no right to complain, because if you do ... then you don't deserve him."

"I am not complaining." Meredith stated in defense.

"Good, then you deserve him."

"I know" Meredith giggled. "And since you are in charge of taking care of me, why don't you heat some food so that we can eat."

At Meredith's bossing tone, Izzie rolled her eyes amused and as she showed one more time her disapproval for Meredith's behavior with a shake from her head, Izzie put the cake on counter and then opened the fridge.

After they ate, Izzie washed the dishes, while Meredith sliced the cake. "Do you think you can do one more thing for me?" Meredith asked Izzie.

"Ask me and we'll."

"I want you to teach me how to bake muffins."

Izzie looked back at her with a funny face as she shut the water and put the last plate on dryer. "I heard that you cooked, so I can give you the receipt to try it. This way you can impress Derek yourself."

"Yeah... I guess I can try. I cooked the dinner for us the other night and it was pretty tasty." Meredith bragged a little with a smirk.

"Really?" Izzie laughed returning to table. "And what did you cook?"

"Stuffed chicken."

"Mmm... good."

"Yeah" Meredith laughed. "I also tried an Italian sausage, but it was too greasy."

As she said that and Izzie took a bite from her slice of cake, Meredith could see how Izzie made a gesture of disgust.

"What? Isn't the cake good?" Meredith asked her worryingly.

Izzie shook her head as she stood up and headed to fridge. She took out a bottle of water and after a sip, she returned with it to table. "I have eaten a junk of tuna sandwich from cafeteria earlier. It was such a disgusting thing, and now that you mentioned greasy, it kind of reminded me of that."

"Oh... sorry." Meredith smiled with pity as she rubbed Izzie's arm as comfort.

It was 4 p.m. when they finished their desert and Meredith got ready to go out on shopping with Izzie.

--------------


	46. Baby Mark

Later that night, Derek pulled the car in front of the house and stopped the engine.  
"Just to make this clear one more time" He looked at his right, where Mark was. "This is the last time I am letting you stay here over night. Meredith and I bought this house for more privacy not as a night shelter."

Mark had listened at him annoyed and without looking at him. As Derek ended his speech, Mark opened the door and looked at Derek "I am tired, I am hungry, I am pissed off, I am going to become father so please save this for someone who is not your friend." Saying that, Mark got out of the car leaving and speechless and stunned Derek inside.

"Come on already!" Mark shouted after him, when he got to door.

Derek shook his head; he was already sorry for being Mark's best friend. He got out of the car and followed Mark to door.

Derek used his key to open the door, then he let Mark to walk inside first.

As they walked inside, both could feel a pleasant smell of baking.

Breathing in repetitively the smell, Mark looked with a smirk at Derek. "Does your sexy doll cook?" He almost burst into laugh.

Derek didn't like the way that Mark referred at Meredith and for that he hit hard Mark's shoulder. "Watch your words or you go back to your apartment in the next second."

Mark shrugged indifferent, as he didn't get too scared by Derek's threatening.

Both headed towards kitchen, where they thought they would find Meredith. On their way there, they could see new things, like pictures, lamps, carpets... all these already arranged at their place.

As she turned around, Meredith jumped a little scared when she saw Mark on the kitchen doorway. "Mark?"

Mark chuckled analyzing the clothes that Meredith was wearing. "This is how you are expecting your boyfriend home? In jeans and sweater?!"

Meredith crossed her arms against the chest and tried not to laugh. "What are you doing here and where is Derek?"

Her answer for her second question came right away in the moment that Derek pushed Mark out of his way, making him hit the fridge. Mark whined just a little as he rubbed his hurt arm, then he went over the counter and took one of the muffins that Meredith was baking at that late our.

"Serve yourself." Meredith giggled when she saw Mark.

"Sorry" Derek smiled as he walked towards her. He put both arms around her waist and pulled her in a kiss. It was just a quick kiss, soft and then he pulled away a little to touch and feel her forehead. "What are you doing out of bed?"

"What is Mark doing here?" Meredith avoided his question with another one from her.

Derek sighed and smiled as begging "You know" He almost muttered the words, so that Mark can't hear them, although, Mark was too busy in that moment to eat a third muffin.

"Ok, but he won't sleep in our bed again." Meredith agreed to have Mark over night again, but as she was saying that, she smiled remembering how she found them yesterday.

"God no! Actually he will sleep outside on porch if I hear any other inappropriate comment from him." Derek said it much louder, obviously addressing to Mark.

Though his mouth was full, Mark sniffed as he heard Derek threatening him again.

"Ok, now I need some explications." Derek stated. "Who bought all those things and ... are you baking muffins?"

Meredith giggled and kissed him quickly. "Izzie and I went out to shopping and yes... I am backing muffins."

"You are backing many muffins." He said looking around the kitchen at all muffins spread around the counter and table.

"I have been backing them for 3 hours now to be more precises." Meredith giggled as she looked around her. "I kind of messed up the recipe, so to adjust their quality I had to adjust the quantities too so... many muffins." She giggled as she gestured to them. "Buy many delicious muffins." She laughed looking at Mark.

Derek looked back at him and smiled shaking his head. He took a muffin and tasted it. "And you did it all by yourself?"

Meredith gasped offended. "Of course."

"She has skills in kitchen." Mark stated thinking that he helps Meredith.

"She sure has" Derek smirked dirty at her.

Meredith gasped again and slapped his arm. "You are horrible."

Derek smiled and cupping her head, he pulled her to him and kissed her. This time it was a longer kiss and more profound.

"Why didn't you tell me you want to go shopping? I would have let you my credit card." Derek broke the kiss and pulled back a little to look into her eyes.

"Derek, you paid for the house, so I have to buy something from my money. I am not that poor you know... I can afford some things."

Derek just smiled and kissed her again. "How are you feeling?"

Meredith let out a sigh at Derek's question.

"What?" He asked her a little worried.

"I feel fine, is just that I got bored with the baking. I don't think I will back muffins again any time soon."

Derek laughed as he rubbed gently her arm. "We'll find a way to finish them soon."

"By the way… Izzie said she wants to paint our room and help us with the decoration. What do you think?"

"Well… her room looks nice and the things you bought with her seem stylish, so I guess that we can trust in her."

"I guess we can." Meredith smiled and kissed him.

Derek noticed the way that Meredith had started to smile at him so sudden. It wasn't a sexual smile and a smile of happiness neither. "Why are you grinning?" Derek asked her confused.

Meredith hung on his neck and lifted on tiptoes to reach to his face. She kissed him and then she smiled again. "I did something that you should be proud of me."

"I am proud of you." Derek chuckled holding her body with both hands. "You baked and you bought things."

"Not for this." Meredith whined childish.

"Ok, then what for?" Derek asked her more confused this time.

Meredith looked away to see what Mark was doing, but as she did that, she saw that Mark wasn't there anymore. "Where is Mark?" She asked Derek, forgetting completely for a while what they were talking about.

Derek looked around them curious, but he wasn't that concerned to find out. "I don't know... maybe he left. Now tell me what did you do?"

Meredith returned the smirk on her face as she looked back at Derek. "I kept Mark's secret."

Derek burst into laugh as he heard that and for that he received a smack from Meredith. "Sorry" Derek calmed down a little but continued laughing as he rubbed the spot from his arm that Meredith had smacked. "I am very proud of you." He cupped her face and pulled her for a quick kiss.

"You should be" Meredith pouted. "This is the first thing that I keep from Alex and believe me, he did try to make me talk."

Derek stopped from laughing and brought her into a hug. He ran his hand up and down on her back, while her arms were properly wrapped around him.

"I have just a small curiosity." Derek said as he pulled back a little to look into her eyes. "Are you talking about everything?"

"Yeah... I mean he is my best friend; we know everything about each other." Meredith stated and didn't think on what Derek was referring at.

"So...um.. how much does he know about out sex life?"

Meredith gasped as she heard his question. "We don't talk about our sex life." She said in defense.

"But you just said that you talk about anything."

"Not our sex life." Meredith pulled away from his arms and returned to stove to check the muffins. "The only thing he knows about my sex life is my first time."

"Your first time?!" Derek burst shocked and grabbing her arm, he made her turn around to face him. "Meredith, was Alex ... the first man you had ... sex with?" He almost chocked his last words.

Meredith smiled embarrassed and turned her back on him.

"Meredith" Derek could not accept that as answer.

He hardly accepted the strong relationship that Meredith was sharing with Alex, but to know that Alex was the first man from her life was something that he refused to accept.

"Derek, please!" Despite Derek's shock, Meredith continued to smile.

"Meredith, was he?" Derek put that question again.

Meredith felt how angry Derek was, so to calm him down, she turned around to face him. She came over to him, leaning her body against his and tried not to smile anymore. "I don't want to talk about my first time, but no... Alex wasn't my first man. He never saw me naked, so calm down, ok?" She looked up into his eyes as she rearranged the collars from his shirt.

Derek sighed with relief, but he kept looking at her with distrust. "Are you sure?"

"Derek, I am very sure."

"Ok"

"Ok" Meredith smiled lifting herself on tiptoes to kiss softly his lips.

Derek took her face into his hands to keep the kiss longer. Meredith's arms wrapped at his back and her body surrendered completely in his arms.

"Man, she bought a Hi Tech Audio System." Mark's chuckle brought their moment to an end. "She is good at buying things like these... I mean this is high quality."

"Mark, do you mind?" Derek asked with calm, reflecting all his anger in the glare he threw to Mark.

At first didn't get Derek's hint, but as he noticed them hugged and their faces close to each other, Mark had a revelation. "Oh..." he burst with a smirk on his face. "Go on... I don't mind." He chuckled and bent over the table to grab another muffin from a basket.

"Argh" Derek groan as he clenched a fist.

"He is so painful." Meredith giggled as she rested her forehead on Derek's shoulder as exasperation.

Derek rubbed her back as comfort, while he was holding her close to him. "Do you want me to kill the pain?"

Meredith just giggled and shook her head. She raised her head and looked at him with a painful smile. "I don't want to visit you in jail."

Derek smiled caressing gently her cheek.

"Are you hungry?" She asked him after she pulled herself away from his arms.

Derek shook from his head. "I ate something earlier; I might eat a muffin before this Tasmanian animal to eat them all, including the table." Derek turned a glare to Mark, who faked a laugh with his mouth full.

Meredith started laughing. "With some milk?" She asked Derek as she grabbed the door handle from fridge.

"Sounds good." Derek answered with a smile.

Meredith took out the bottle with milk and sat it on table; meanwhile, Derek put two glasses on it.

"Some milk, Mark?" She asked Mark.

Mark answered with a nod from his head and then Meredith smiled at Derek to let him know that he has to take out another glass. Derek rolled his eyes and between groans and muttering curses, he took out another glass from cabinet and sat it down on table.

Mark took one of the glasses that Derek had put on table and held it out to Meredith, who was holding the bottle with milk.

Meredith looked at Derek with a glare while Derek smiled slightly and encouraging.

"You have to grow up, Mark; you cannot afford to act like a child anymore." Meredith stated with a casual tone as she took a seat next to Derek. Only when she saw Derek staring at her, she realized what she had said. She bitted her lower lip with worry and then, slowly, her head turned to Mark, who was sitting across from them.

Mark was staring at them in disbelief, with his mouth opened and a disgusting image caused by it. He managed to chew and swallow the leftovers from his mouth, and then his forehead frowned, its lines building the glare for Derek. "You told her." He said pressing the voice on each word, but without making it sound as a shout.

Derek glanced just once at Mark, with guilt in his eyes before he took Meredith's hand and squeezed it; it was a way to show her that he was not angry on her.

"How could you, Derek? You are my best friend and I shared with you something very serious." Mark burst nervous this time as his voiced raised considerably, slamming the glass half-empty on table. "I shared you my pain and you what you did? You went and told everything to your little girlfriend so that she and her friend can have a subject for gossips."

"Calm down, Mark!" Derek said calmly. "Her friends were here and she didn't say anything about you."

"And I won't say anything." Meredith interfered. "I promised to Derek I would not say anything, and I always keep my promises."

At that, Mark rolled his eyes with a groaned.

"But you should reconsider your depressing behavior and stop acting as if you will kill yourself. People already started to ask themselves what is going on with you." Meredith continued a little louder than Derek, but only in this way she could make herself heard by Mark.

"Just don't dare to say anything to anyone or I will..." Mark started threatening, but at his new attitude Derek stood up nervous and slamming the table with his hand, he caught Mark's attention.

"Don't you dare to threaten her!"

Mark got quiet and leaned his back on chair.

Meredith was very upset by Mark's attitude, so she stood up and head back to stove to check the new series of muffins.

Derek got up too and walked over to her. He placed a hand on her back and slowly he started to rub her back. Meredith smiled at him to let him know she is fine and then she leaned her head to him, so that he could kiss her forehead.

"I am tired" Mark stated with some remnants of anger in his voice.

"Do you want me to kick him out?" Derek asked Meredith, as he heard Mark's statement. He didn't even bother to look at him, since his entire concern was on Meredith. He took her chin between his fingers and lifting her face to him, he looked into her eyes.

Meredith shook her head, as she smiled slightly at him. "He is your friend, and he has reasons to be upset."

It was Derek's turn to shake his head, but he did it with disapproval. "He was idiot enough not to take care of himself, so we should not feel pity for him." Derek said it louder so that Mark can hear him.

Mark just got up from chair and headed towards the way out from kitchen.

"Use the guests' room, not ours." Derek shouted after him.

No answer came back from Mark, so as Meredith giggled, Derek rolled his eyes.

"You go and get ready for bed." Meredith said smiling.

"How about your muffins?"

"Derek, it's almost midnight and I really don't have to mood and energy to bake more muffins. I think I will throw what I have left from dough." she said taking the bowl with dough from counter. It wasn't much left of it, but it would have probably taken her at least another two hours.

Derek took the bowl from her and turned around with it towards fridge. "I'll put this in fridge and we might bake it tomorrow." As he shut the door to close the fridge, Derek turned back to Meredith and found her leaning against the counter, smiling dreamer at him.

"What is it?" Derek questioned amused. "Do I have something on my face or clothes?" He looked down on him and ran a hand over his face.

"It's nothing." Meredith giggled as she pushed herself back on her feet and walked towards him. She sneaked an arm around him and kissed softly his lips.

Derek smiled broadly at her loving gesture and his both arms brought her body in his, "You are a wonderful girlfriend."

"I know" She giggled and cuddled herself in his arms as if she was a little girl.

Derek could not love more the way she was behaving at that time, and held his arms tighter around her body. He could feel her heartbeat and the breathing moves... he could feel her body living in his. "I love you so much!"

Meredith smiled and looking up at him, her hands caressed his cheeks with love and she lowered his head a little so that she can have a bite from his bottom lip. "I love you too!" Meredith pulled back and let his hands fall from her body. "You go now and I will clean around here. Plus, I want you to make sure that he didn't get into our bed again." She said with a giggled as she referred at Mark.

"If I find him in there, then he with fly away in the next second." Derek stated very serious and walked out from kitchen.

-----------

Meredith came out of bathroom dressed into a pair of navy trousers and a gray long sleeves top. Walking in their bedroom, she found Derek sleeping on his side of bed, with the face turned up to ceiling. Meredith got in bed next to him, turned off the light and then she leaned on him, placing slowly a hand on his chest and kissed him goodnight.

As she snuggled under blanket, she could feel a pair of hands dragging her body to the other side of the bed.

"Sorry... I didn't meant to wake you up." She whispered rolling over to face Derek. Through dark, she could see his smile addressed to her.

"I wasn't really sleeping... something was missing." He stated with a cocky voice.

"Really?" Meredith giggled in tease. She knew very well what he meant to say with that.

"Really," He retorted and leaning over her, he kissed her softly.

Meredith positioned herself more comfortable onto back and opening wide her legs, she invited Derek to come over. Derek got her message right away and came on top of her. His weight fell on his forearms, which were propped on each side of Meredith and easily, he could lower himself down to her and kissed her.

Meredith welcomed him as her arms flew around his neck and her hands started running through his hair.

"Are you feeling better now?" He asked her as his face pulled back a few inches away from hers. He smoothed her hair to back, smiling as he stared into her eyes.

"Much better now." She answered cocky. "I am not even sneezing anymore... I feel like I can do anything right now."

"Anything?" Derek's smirked became cockier than before with that, his lips caught hers and tasted them.

"Anything" Meredith answered with a seductive tone of her voice after his lips pulled back from hers.

"Anything but baking muffins." Derek stated more as a request.

Meredith giggled and shook from her head. "No more muffins." As she said that, her hands got lower to his back and they grabbed his shirt's hemline.

Derek stood up in his knees, just to take off the shirt that Meredith had suggested that needed to be removed and then, he started to untie her trousers. She lifted her hips a little and from one swift move, Derek pulled them down on legs and threw them away.

"You should lock the door, Derek." Meredith told him.

"Why? We are in our house. We don't need to lock our bedroom anymore." Derek laid down on her again and this time, as he kissed her, a hand sneaked under her top. His palm walked around her body, feeling each inch of her skin, until it found her soft and full breast.

Meredith let out a moan of pleasure at the massage that her body was receiving from his hands.

"Derek?" His name came out as a breath out, since her breathing had started already to accelerate.

"Yes Mer" He answered to her call dropping another kiss on her lips.

"Lock the door."

Derek groaned and as he stopped from tracing kisses along her face, he looked at her with frustration.

"Derek, you know how his likes storm in when we are together."

"Mer... sweetie" Derek cupped her face and kissed her. "He is dying in the other room, so he is no longer in condition to come in."

"If he is dying, but he still walks in here, then I will help him die."

"You do that, but in the meantime... let's continue." Derek lowered over her and tenderly, he started kissing each cheek, her jaw, her lips, until he made his way down to her neck.

Each time she had the chance and caught his face near her, Meredith was kissing him back hang well on his body.

"The stomach is killing me. I need something for pain."

When the whine echoed along with the sound made by their kisses and their moans, Derek was having his face buried in Meredith's neck curve. Derek stopped as he heard Mark's voice and fell with his entire weight over Meredith, nuzzling his face in her neck. "I can't believe this." He mumbled crying.

"I can" Meredith sighed as she let his neck and her arms fell beside her body.

As if his disturbance wasn't enough, Mark also turned on the lights. "I don't even want to hear a complaining. The safeties way not get pregnant is not to have sex." He stated as he started to walk towards his bed.

"But maybe we do want to have a baby." Derek burst nervous looking at him. He stood up a little, pulled down, Meredith's top back on and then he fell down beside her. "You are a doctor, so you can take care of yourself. Go and check the bathroom for some medicines."

Mark stared at them for several moments with pain printed on his face.

"Go Mark." Derek urged him when he saw the way he was just standing there as if he was an idiot.

Mark nodded and turned on his heel to walk out. He left the bedroom, but he forgot to shut the door.

"Did we agree to adopt him?" Derek asked Meredith with stupor.

"Nooo" Meredith jumped in defense. "If our children will be as idiots as Mark, then I will kill myself. Besides... I told you to close the door."

Derek didn't seem to be listening to her judging by the way he was grinning at her.

"What? Don't tell me that now this is funny to you." She asked him.

Derek shook his head continuing to smile and he kissed her. "Did you think of how many kids do you want us to have?"

"What?" Meredith asked him laughing.

"You said our children." Derek answered referring at Meredith's previous statement.

Meredith smiled as she remembered that too. "Derek, please lock the door!"

Derek wasn't very happy with the way she avoided his question, but he stood up and walked towards door to close it and lock it. He was about to grab the door and shut it, when Mark showed up in the doorway and stopped it with his hand.

"I can't find anything in there." Mark stated nervous.

"Argh" Derek rubbed his face frustrated. He grabbed Mark's arm, he twisted him around and pushed him out on hall. "Go and figure it out by yourself how to get rid of your pain, now stop disturbing us." He shouted nervous at him and shut the door.

When he turned around to Meredith, he saw her lying on a side looking at him with a small smile on her face. "You are not in the mood anymore." He said almost laughing.

Meredith shook her head smiling.

Derek got back in bed and as he laid down on his back, he opened his arm to receive her in his arms. "Me neither."

Meredith snuggled in his arms as he turned on a side and put both arms around her.

"Maybe two" Meredith mumbled after a while, breaking up the silence that had fallen over them. She knew Derek wasn't sleeping, because he was still brushing her hair with his fingers.

"What are you talking about?" Derek asked her confused.

Meredith looked up at him and smiled. "Children. I think I want two... maybe more... I don't know. I want to see how it is with two first." She said it looking at his shirt. "I don't want just one... that's for sure." With that, she looked at him again, as a way to show her that she was serious. "It will be easier for the first one if it won't be the only child."

A smile spread across Derek's face and as Meredith was stating more about that subject, his smile was getting bigger. He caressed her cheek, brushing a strand from her hair behind the ear and leaned down to her giving her a kiss full with love. He was beyond happy and in love, each time he heard her talking about their relationship at future tense.

Meredith put her head back on him and closed her eyes as Derek's body started to warm her. That was the moment that they both loved to share the most; not even the sex could beat that.

Just that time, their favorite moment was ruined after a few seconds by Derek's charity... Mark, who opened the door and walked inside.

"You didn't lock the door this time either?" Meredith pushed herself away from Derek's arms and glared him furious.

"I... um..." Derek had been taken off guard by all those and didn't know how to respond.

"Seriously, I am going to die and I don't want to die alone." Mark complained on his way to their bed. "Lacy panties... nice." He chuckled after he sneaked in bed next to Meredith.

His appearance in their bed was so fast, that neither of them could stop him.

"You idiot." Meredith got up on her sit slapping Mark's head. "Get out of here" She yelled pushing Mark to the edge of bed until she made him fall from it.

Derek was up on his feet from the second he heard Mark's statement regarding Meredith's panties. He came over to Meredith's bedside and collected Mark from floor by grabbing his arms. He pulled him up on his feet and started to push him out of their bedroom.

"Come on guys! I can't sleep alone."

Derek didn't listen at his complains and continued to push him until he brought him back to the bedroom he had offered him. Derek gave him a poke and sent him inside; immediately, he grabbed the doorknob and closed the door, twisting it's latch.

"_Derek, you can't be serious." _ Mark started yelling when he saw himself locked on inside. _"I am sick; you can't locked me in here."_

"That's right... your brain is sick." Derek shouted back.

"_I am sick... I might need to throw up._

"You have a balcony... you can throw up there."

"_What if I will need to pee?"_

Derek started to feel better at Mark's whines, so leaned against his door smiling. "Pee over the balcony."

"_Everything will go in the backyard."_ At this point, Mark thought that a threat might get him out of there.

"The rain will wash it." Derek laughed. "Good night, Mark!"

"_Derek"_

Derek ignored Mark's shouts and knocks on door, and returned to Meredith.

"What have you done to him?" Meredith was up on her feet walking to exit when Derek walked in. "Did you hang him on something?"

Derek laughed at that. He closed the door, took Meredith's hand and led her to bed. "He will calm down, so we can go back to sleep now."

"Are you sure?" Meredith asked him a bit worried.

"He will survive... trust me."

Like that, Derek saved the night and they went to bed without locking the door.

------------------

Meredith's eyes flattered open as she started to wake up. She had fallen asleep on Derek's bedside, so the first thing that her blurry sight caught, was the red flashing lights of the clock. It was so early and she didn't have to wake up for another one hour; she shut her eyes back, but there was no chance for her to fall back asleep. The entire sleep from the previous day recharged her batteries and from the second she opened her eyes, the sleep disappeared.

Her back was turned to Derek and she could feel his body covering her back, her head resting on his arm while the other one was over her waist.

Though she knew she wouldn't fall asleep again, Meredith shut her eyes and let her back neck rest on Derek's face. She loved to feel how his breath was tickling her neck and hear him sleeping. Each time she was doing that move, her hair was tickling Derek's nostrils and as response, he was rubbing his face on her neck and he was kissing it right after, continuing to sleep.

Meredith giggled silently when she heard Derek's moan and she felt him repositioning himself along her body.

She was happier than she could ever imagine she would be. She found in Derek more than then she ever dared to ask. He offered her his friendship, love, protection and the happiest moments of her life so far. With everything he was doing, offering and saying, Derek started to build more confidence in her. With him by her side, Meredith felt now more confident and able to wish for more. Even for a baby.

As she kept thinking on that she started to feel overwhelmed by all those. A tear slipped from the corner of her eyes and not wanting to become emotional, she opened the eyes and wiped it. Then, she slowly took Derek's arm from her and moved it to back, along to his body, she started to move from his arms and into a final, she slipped from under covers.

After she left the bed, Derek felt all the commotion and falling on his stomach, he hugged the pillow and continued to sleep. It wasn't for the first time when Meredith noticed how peacefully he was sleeping and how bright his face was. She would have loved to kiss his him, but she knew that once she did that, he would wake up and she didn't want to interrupt his rest, especially after all the care he had offered her in the previous night.

She showered, she put some clothes on and when she left the bathroom and walked back into their bedroom, Derek was still sleeping.

Meredith walked outside closing the door behind her and headed downstairs.

The smile was still present on her face and it was reflecting very well her actual mood. She had started to know the house pretty well, so her feet were heading towards kitchen without too much attention from her brain. That is why, when she walked inside the kitchen and raised her look from her trance, she gasped scared. "OMG" Her eyes grew huge of fear at the unexpected view.

"What? Am I that scary?" Mark chuckled. He was sitting on table sipping from a glass of water.

Meredith shook her head to snap back from shock and walked towards him. "No... I forgot you are here."

"You forgot?" Mark laughed with some sarcasm in his voice. "I thought you got scared because you didn't know how I let myself out from my room."

Meredith smiled and tried to held back a giggle as she remembered what Derek had done to Mark last night.

"You even forgot I was locked in there, huh?" Mark wasn't laughing anymore, but instead he was looking funny at Meredith. "Never mind! Tell your boyfriend that these doors sucks, because they have latch on the outside and inside."

Meredith just smiled and headed to fridge. "How are you feeling this morning?" She asked him while she was looking after food.

"Better, I guess." Mark groaned hitting the head on table. "I also got an indigestion."

At that, Meredith looked ahead stunned and shook her smiling. She took out the bottle with milk and shut the door. "I will make you a tea." She said as she placed the bottle on table. Then she went over the cabinet and opened it to look inside. She did that just for a second, because then she closed it and giggled. "I forgot we don't have tea."

Meredith could hear Mark sighing heavy when she said that, so she looked at him with sympathy though he had ruined their night. "What can I give you?"

Mark held out the glass from his hand without raising his head from table. "Water"

Meredith took out a bottle of water from fridge and refilled his glass. Then she took a muffin for herself and a glass for milk and sat down on table across from Mark.

Mark lifted his head to take another sip from his water and then he saw what Meredith was eating and swallowed the water with knots.

"Please don't eat that here!" He begged her with pain on his face and in his voice.

Meredith sighed very unhappy with that, but she stood up and put the muffin back to basket. She took out from cabinet a box of cereals and showed them to Mark. "Can I have these?" She asked them with some sarcasm in her tone.

Mark shrugged indifferent, so she took the box and a bowl, and sat them on table. She took her seat back and prepared her breakfast. In all this time, Mark stood there looking lethargic and lifeless.

"Do you want to have this baby?" Meredith asked him straight after she started to eat. She glanced at him once after she put that question to see his reaction.

There was no reaction from him, but he did look at her and only after a few moments he shrugged as answer.

"Do you like Angela?" Meredith asked him. She put the question casual to make him see that she wasn't going to pressure him to talk.

"She is ok." Mark stated simply.

Meredith could see he wasn't in the mood for talking, so she gave up on asking him questions. Just that as she decided to give up, Mark burst with comment that proved that he needed to take that weight from his shoulders. "If you and Derek will become parents one day, I can bet all the money in the world that you would be great parents. Me on the other hand... I am not made for being a father. What do I know about this?"

Meredith was shocked by Mark's statement and she dropped the spoon in bowl starring at him with the mouth open.

"The only things I know babies are that they cry a lot and they smell awful." Mark continued.

"They don't smell awful and I bet that you were a crying baby yourself." All of the sudden, Meredith was snapped back into reality by Mark's last statement. "And I don't believe either that I will be such a great mother."

Mark looked at her funny. "You like crying and awful smelling babies, so you will be a good mother. I don't see why you freaked out that bad when you thought you might be pregnant.

Meredith sighed. She knew she did freak out for no reason, because she loved the babies. "I do want to have a baby and want Derek to be the father, but I don't think I would want one if it won't be with him. I am scared at the thought of becoming a mother. To me it seems to be the hardest thing to do, but I know that if I have Derek, I can do fine as parent. If Angela wants the baby and she seems like a good mother, then it should be easier for you. I guess that not both partners are feeling prepared to become parents, but if one of them is, then the other one feels more confident."

Mark had listened carefully Meredith's speech and at the end of it he smiled. "You will be a great mother, so next time when you will have false alarms like you had the last one, you should feel depressed that you aren't pregnant."

Meredith giggled complimented by Mark's advice as she started to mix the milk with the spoon randomly and without any purpose. "Does Angela look like she is going to be good mom?"

Mark smiled as she asked him that. "She likes children and she wants to have this one, though I haven't talked to her since she gave me the news."

"Mark, this makes it easier for you; she would just some support from you." Meredith said as encouragement addressed to Mark. "Moral support, not necessary financial." She needed to add.

Mark had started to avoid looking at her, when she said that and started playing with his glass.

"You might like this role. Spend the time with your kid, play with it, go out in park, tell it stories."

"What was your favorite story as child?" Mark asked her without replying at her last statements.

"Snow White" Meredith giggled when new memories flood her mind. "My uncle was telling me that story each time I was going to stay during the summer holiday with him. I felt a little like Snow White and I always felt his house as my home, just like Snow White found a family in dwarves' house."

"I liked The Sleeping Between." Mark stated, still avoiding the eye contact with her.

"Really?" Meredith almost burst into laugh very impressed by what she had found out about Mark.

"Shut up" Mark cut her right away, though he was smiling too amused by his own statement. "My mom was obsessed with that story."

"But you did enjoy her obsession, didn't you?"

Mark started laughing at Meredith's question and shook his head, but he didn't do it to disapprove her; he did it as he realized at how bad that sounded for his image.

"See? It will be fun to live your childhood again through your child's."

"I feel sorry for you!" Mark stated after they both stopped from laughing and calmed down. He said serious and with some pity in his voice.

"Why?" Meredith asked him surprised by his statement.

"Because of the relationship you have with your mother. I miss my mom!"

Meredith smiled sympathetic "I survived through childhood with my uncle's support and now I am fine with it."

"Because of Derek" Mark added to her statement.

"Because of Derek" Meredith answered smiling; it was sad comparison between Mark's childhood and hers. He had listened stories told by his mother, probably every night, and she had to listen them only once in while when she was in vacation at her uncle or when her uncle was visiting them in Seattle. Meredith didn't want to let the sadness to get her again, especially now, when she had all the reasons to be happy.

"What did I do?" Derek's voice came in confused. He walked over to Meredith and stopping behind her chair, he brushed her hair and leaned down to kiss her.

"You are not guilty." Meredith giggled up at him.

Derek noticed the small tear that had formed in Meredith's eye. "What happened?" His smile faded away from the second he saw Meredith's sad eyes. "Was he rude with you? Did he say anything bad to you?" In a split second, a glare built up into his eyes towards Mark.

"No, no" Meredith smiled trying to calm him down. "I am fine. We actually had a very pleasant talk."

"Yeah…" Mark chuckled. "I like your girlfriend." He stated casual, with nothing dirty in his voice and attitude.

"I know you do… especially her lacy panties." Derek chuckled as he convinced himself that everything had been fine in there. "Why did you release him this early?" He looked back at Meredith after he had left from her back to serve himself with something for breakfast.

"He found a way out." Meredith defended herself laughing.

"Don't tell me jumped from balcony?" Derek looked back at him shocked.

"No, he didn't, but apparently we have a problem with the latches from doors." Meredith said. "Oh you cannot eat those." She stopped him fast when she saw him taking a muffin out of basket.

"Why?" Derek asked her confused as his hand froze inside the basket.

"He is sick." Meredith said with pity, motioning her head towards Mark. Mark looked at Derek with a hurt face and nodded. "Apparently, my food is toxic." Meredith stated laughing, at the morning when she woke up with pregnancy symptoms because she had eaten too much in the previous night.

Derek took the empty hand out of basket and walked back to table with just one glass in his hands. He sat down on the chair next to her and leaned to her to kiss her. "Your food is not toxic. It's delicious as long as you don't eat too much." Derek emphasized the words 'too much' as he glared Mark.

Meredith giggled rubbing his leg. "Let's forgive him this time."

"That was available for you too." Derek's serious look turned back to Meredith.

"Ok" Meredith smiled and leaned her body against his.

Derek wrapped an arm around her and held her there like that for a little while.

"I need a ride to hospital." That made it harder for Derek to forgive Mark.

"You will get a ride." Derek muttered the words nervous. "To hell" he continued in whisper.

"Derek" Meredith laughed when she heard the destination and nudged him really hard in his ribs.

"Sorry" Derek winced in pain as he started to rub the hurt spot.

----------------

Meredith was upstairs getting ready for work, Derek was in kitchen cleaning after their breakfast, and Mark was living room checking their new audio system when the videophone rang announcing someone's presence.

Because of the loud music, neither Meredith nor Derek heard the bell and Mark was too preoccupied with his new toy to go and see who it was. Instead, he started shouting "Meredith, Derek, there is someone outside calling for you!!!!" And he continued to study the remote control he had been playing with for the last 10 minutes.

The music continued blaring, same as the videophone and Meredith and Derek were still unaware of the visit they were receiving.

"Man…" Mark groaned annoyed as he stood up and threw the remote control on couch. "Meredith, Derek" He yelled again, but without thinking that turning the music slower or off would make himself heard. "These two are deaf." He burst nervous as he struck out towards kitchen.

Derek was wiping the table when Mark walked in and yelled again. "Can you please go and answer to that fucking door. Someone wishes to visit you."

"Mark, can you please not yell at me in my own house?" Derek snapped back at him as he threw the rag on table.

"Both of you seem to be deaf so I guess that the yelling is the only thing that helps us the others to communicate with you." Mark continued in the same loud tone.

"If you will turn that damn thing off, then I would hear you." Derek raised his voice louder than Mark. He pushed him out of his way to walk out. "And come and turn this off. Stop playing with it, because it's not a toy." He shouted back with anger.

Mark rolled his eyes annoyed as he followed him back in living room. He ignored Derek's orders and returned to his previous activity, while Derek went to see who was outside. Through the blurry image of videophone, Derek recognized Izzie.

"_Finally! What is going on there?"_ Izzie burst laughing. _"You had trouble dismounting each other?" _

Derek rolled his eyes amused. "Come on in! I will live the door open for you." And as he said that, he opened the gates for her and unlocked the front door. Then he returned in living room, where Mark was still playing with their audio system keeping the volume on a high level. He grabbed the remote control from Mark's hands, turned the volume slower and then he turned it off.

At that, Mark didn't protest and just stared at him. He was taken by surprise when Derek hit him hard with the remote control in his head and walked away with it.

"Are you insane?" Mark jumped up from couch rubbing intensively his head. "What is wrong with you?"

"Umm… apparently you are the wrong thing here" Derek replied back into a cold manner and went over the stair's bottom, "Mer, Izzie is here!" He yelled up at her.

"_I will be right down" _ Meredith shouted back in response.

In that second, Mark turned on the music again and Derek hit his head on the stairs' railings, extremely exasperated by Mark's idiocy.

"_Can you ask that idiot to stop playing with my $5000 system?"_ Meredith shouted again at him.

"Mark, stop playing with that!" Derek yelled angrier then never and as he walked back in living, he hurried towards Mark threatening.

From the second he saw him coming in, Mark stood up holding the remote control and laughing he ran behind the couch, further from Derek. In that moment, the chase between them started.

"What did I tell you that this is not a toy, Mark?" Derek kept yelling as he ran after Mark.

Izzie walked inside the house when Meredith was climbing down the stairs. In the same time they saw how the two presumed grown-up were chasing each other around the living room. The loud music, Mark's laughs and Derek's shouts were making that house look incredibly crazy that morning.

Meredith walked in living room and grabbing the cord, she unplugged the system. "You two are just… so… ugh, you are trying to drive me insane." She was so angry that she couldn't even found the words for a yell.

Mark handed the remote control to Derek smiling completely innocent at Meredith. As Derek took it back, he used it again as weapon for Mark's head.

"Derek" Meredith yelled at him when she saw that. "Put that away and let's go to work!"

Derek smiled and threw it on couch. Then, he walked towards her and stopped when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him. "You are not mad of me, right?" He asked her with an amusing guilty face as he kissed her nose.

At first, Meredith giggled, but then she remembered she was indeed mad of him… a little. She pulled away and turned her back on him. "Hi Izzie"

"Hey Mer" Izzie had watched the whole scene very amused. "Are you having a new roommate? I thought you two didn't want a roommate anymore?"

"We don't have one" Meredith muttered as she glared back at Mark. "I hope. He is just suffering from his own foolishness."

Izzie didn't left very happy the other day from Meredith without an answer regarding Mark's problem, so now she found a right opportunity. She walked to him and with a sympathetic smile on her face. "I am so sorry for what is going on to you. I am sure that it will solve soon and if you need my help then you can count on it." With that, she hoped she tricked Mark.

She did it, but not as she wanted.

"She told her!" Mark stated with yell at Derek. "She told Stevens."

"Meredith?" Derek looked at her questioning.

"I didn't" Meredith jumped up fast in her own defense. "Izzie is just playing with you, Mark." And with that, Meredith smacked Izzie's arm.

Izzie just giggled as he rubbed the hurt spot.

"I will keep this in mind, Stevens!" Mark threatened her.

"Whatever" She shrugged indifferent as she turned to Meredith and Derek. "I didn't ask you… what color do you prefer for your room?" She asked them.

Meredith and Derek looked at each other, but none of them could come out with an answer. "Whatever you want, Izz! We trust you." Meredith stated and Derek approved her with a nod.

"Ok then; I will go buy some paint later." Izzie said very happy.

"We have to go now, so here are the keys and call us if you are in trouble." Derek stated as he handed her a set of keys.

"Sure! Have a great day at work!"

Meredith answered with a smile as she walked out on door, while Derek glared Mark. "Do you need a leash to walk?"

Mark rolled his eyes and followed them out.

By the time that Derek and Mark reached to car, Meredith was already inside at driver's right.

At first, Mark didn't notice where Meredith was, so his stop was at the front seats. Just then, he saw Meredith there. He rolled his eyes and opened the door.

"Excuse me" Meredith snapped at him when she saw his dare.

"I excuse you." Mark replied simply as he opened the door from the back seats and stayed in front of Meredith waiting for something.

When she saw that, Meredith started to get red of anger understanding which was his intention. She made herself more comfortable on her chair and crossed her arms against the chest starting ahead and ignoring Mark.

"Please Meredith!" Surprisingly Mark asked her kindly and calm.

"No" Meredith remained firm. "This is my boyfriend's car, so I am staying at his right."

Derek knew already what was about to come next, so he leaned against his seat's door keeping his back on them, while his head cradled in his hands desperate.

"Derek" Mark raised his voice as protest, but all he got in return from Derek was his back and a painful groan. "I have car sick, Meredith." Mark started his argue with Meredith. "I can't stay in back."

Meredith didn't comment, but she started to fumble through her bag. It didn't take her long until she found a paper bag. She took it out and held it out at Mark.

"Derek" Mark burst angrier this time,

Derek shook his head very disappointed, opened the door and got inside. "Please, Mer!"

At his begging tone and look, Meredith gasped offended. "Derek" She barely managed to say his name.

"Meredith, this car is new and I don't want stains and smells in it." Derek stated in the same begging manner as earlier.

"You know what?" Meredith yelled at him as she threw her arms in air. "You are unbelievable. The other day you started to argue with me because you want a baby and now you are saying that you love your car too much to see it dirty. There you go now, imagine that Mark is a baby… what are you going to do? Tie him outside the car and drag him after you?"

"Mer" Derek knew she was right, but… Mark wasn't a baby. "Mark is not a baby, Mer and… uh…"

"He is the most retarded baby I have ever seen so far." Meredith shouted at him with anger.

"Who are you calling baby?" Mark yelled at her extremely offended by her statement. "I am much older than you so you should show me some respect."

"I am sorry… grandpa." Meredith looked up at him smiling devilish. "Now get inside or take a cab."

"Derek" Mark lowered his head to look inside at him.

"Derek" Meredith also called him, both wanting him to make a choice.

But no answer was coming from Derek, since he had started already to hit his forehead on the steer wheel.

"If you choose him, then I will drive my own car." Meredith threw him one last threat at his persistent silence. Derek continued with the same desperate gesture and stayed quiet. Misunderstanding his behavior, Meredith sighed and put a foot outside the car under Mark's proud eyes. "I will see you later… if you won't be too busy with Mark." Meredith muttered as she made a gesture to move the other foot outside. Just that she didn't do it, because in a split second, Derek's hand gripped arm holding her inside.

"Get in the backseats, Mark!" Derek sighed as he raised his head and looked at head.

"Are you kidding me, right?" Mark protested, while Meredith brought her feet back inside the car smiling satisfied at Mark.

"Get inside already!" Derek burst more nervous than ever as he slammed the hands on steer wheel, still keeping his look away from them.

Meredith pushed Mark away from her doorway and slammed the door shut.

With two slammed doors from Meredith and Mark and a groan from Derek, the car drove away… finally.

------------

**This one was a very long chapter. I have one more and I will be up-to-date here too. Does anyone want me to keep posting here?**


	47. On call room

**This is my first serious sex scene ever, so be kind:D**

**----------------------**

Meredith had just walked out from a scrubbing room when a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her after a corner.

"What…" At first, Meredith had the intention to protest, but as soon as she found herself in someone arms, she giggled "Derek"

It was a quiet area, so Derek did hesitate to press his lips against hers. "You were brilliant in there."

"Bailey worked me hard to let me assisted to this surgery." Derek could feel how through an exhausted sigh she relaxed in his arms. She rested her forehead against his shoulder, closing the eyes and waiting for tiredness to pass. "We shouldn't be doing this here."

"Come with me." Derek flipped her back on her feet and took her hand. He let her hand go when they returned on the main hallway, not wanting to get too many eyes on them, so that they can see their destination.

Meredith didn't ask him what he was having in plan; being too tired and knowing him pretty well after all these months, Meredith knew that he was going to do something good to her.

They walked down the hall and they stopped only when Derek grabbed her by waist and pulled her into an on call room. In a split second, they disappeared inside in the same time.

Derek walked ahead and sat down on one of the bed's edge patting the seat next to him. "Get over here." He called her with a seductively commanding voice.

"Dr. Shepherd, I am officially off from work so you are not in the state to command me." Meredith giggled and refused to make any step forward.

"Meri" He smiled at her in a way that only he could make her weak to her knees. His head titled to a side as he flashed another smile to make her join him.

Meredith was just playing with him, so she gave up immediately. She walked over to him and stopped in front of him. Derek parted his legs so that he can bring her into him. His both hands clenched on her slim waste, while she took his head into her hands and lowered her head to him pressing her lips against his.

"Richard wants me to read a file before leaving home, so I can't please you as you want." Derek panted against his lips trying to resist at Meredith's gentle movements through his hair.

Just that as he said that, Meredith let out a sigh and pulled away from his arms. She took a seat down next to him and looked at him with a worried look. "I have a bad news, Derek."

Instantly, Derek got worried. "What is it?"

Meredith looked at him and sighed, then she took another deep breath before telling him the news. "Izzie is not done with the room and she will stay there over night in the guest room."

"Oh no" Derek sighed with the same disappointment as Meredith. "So?"

"We can go to my house… we will lock the door this time." Meredith offered a solution.

"Mer, in that house it is impossible to have a decent sex or even to sleep." Derek wasn't thrilled with her suggestion as their last attempts failed successfully. "I think we should sleep here."

Meredith looked at him surprised. "Here? As in… this hospital?"

"Right in this on call room." Derek took her hand and brought her to sit down beside him. He lifted her chin to him and kissed her softly as his hand started to run slowly through her hair.

A moan escaped from her mouth as her fingers started to brush slowly his curls, titling her head to aside to expose her neck for his kisses.

"We should go to Mark's apartment." She barely brought the words out as Derek's kisses were burning her neck and whole body.

That took Derek completely by surprise and made him pull away from her. "What did you just say?"

Meredith smiled embarrassed and started to bite her lip being uncomfortable with her own suggestion. "Sorry."

"I would rather have sex with all your friends around us than with Mark under the same roof."

"Derek…" Meredith started a little hesitant "We can't sleep here… we need to shower… clean clothes…"

Derek put two fingers over her lips kissing them in between. "We can shower here."

"But what if Richard finds us in here?" Meredith asked him thinking of the consequences that that might had.

"We will lock the door, so come on Mer… let's stay here. It's the safeties"

As answer to his pleading, Meredith looked at him with begging eyes.

"You are going to be so sorry for this, but… fine." Derek sighed disappointed and stood up. He gave her his hand and Meredith followed him up. "We are going over to your place."

"Thanks" Meredith smiled slightly as she kissed his cheek.

"I am going to be sorry, for this." Derek muttered to himself and walked Meredith outside.

----------------------

Meredith unlocked the front door from her old house and heard her friends' voices coming from living room. She smiled at Derek trying to cheer him up a little. It was obvious that he wasn't thrilled with her idea and especially with her friends' presence at home in that night.

"Come" Meredith took his hand and led him to stairs, trying to make themselves unnoticed by the others. Just that their attempt failed in the second that George announced their arrival.

"Meredith, you are back." George said as he walked in the darken hall. "Dr…. Derek" He smiled at Derek.

"We are not here. You haven't seen us." Meredith looked threatening at George as she and Derek started to climb up the stairs. "We are going in my room and for all of you we are not here. Are we clear?"

George nodded a little confused and in the same confusing trance that Meredith's words had brought him, he walked back in living room.

"See? That was easy." Meredith giggled after they got in her room and locked the door.

"It was too easy." Derek answered unconfident. With all these, he pulled her into his arms hugging her tight and smiling in her eyes.

Meredith stole a kiss from him before started to unzip his jacket.

Derek pulled away and helped her with that, while Meredith started to undress herself and throw them away. They did that in a split second and without breaking the smile and the eye contact they had made.

Derek stopped when the boxers were his only clothing item on and walked over to Meredith, who at that point, was wearing only her purple lacy bra and panties. He brought her back into his arms and kissing her, his hands started to unhook her bra. He pulled it of her shoulders; from there, he tossed it on floor.

Meredith pulled back from the kiss and taking his hand, she led him to her bed. They both laid down facing each other. Derek ran his hand over the outline of her body, starting from her hip and ending up to her cheek; he cupped it with his hand as he leaned to her and kissed her… softly and linger.

Meredith's breath started accelerating with each brush that Derek's lips were giving to hers.

As he thrust his tongue into her mouth, Derek flipped her onto her back and he got on top of her, between her parted legs. His hunger for her released itself when his lips found the soft skin of her neck.

Meredith moaned silently at the pleasure of having Derek's warmth and kisses over her.

"I missed… you… Mer" Derek moaned between kisses. He kissed her jaw, her cheeks and into a final, his lips returned to hers.

Derek almost bitted her lips when a knock and shouts started to be heard at their door.

"No" Meredith cried cradling her face in Derek's neck curve.

"_Meredith, you have to talk with George about his new girlfriend."_ Christina was the first one who started with the yells.

"I told you it was too easy." Derek looked up at her shaking his head disappointed.

Meredith sighed guilty. It was her fault and she should have listened to Derek, when he told her that going back to her old house is not a good idea.

"I am so sorry!" Meredith sighed with guilt and looked at Derek, who had fallen onto his back beside her.

"_Meredith, I know you are in there!"_ Christina gave another hard knock on door, this time trying the knob. When she saw that the door was locked, Christina knocked again. "Mer, you have to come out."

"_Could you please stop?"_ George's shouts joined the commotion from Meredith's door. _"She is with Derek and she commanded not to be disturbed." _

"_I wouldn't disturb her if your girlfriend stops walking naked around the house."_ Christina yelled back at him.

"_I don't walk naked around the house. I was naked in bathroom."_ Callie also joined the fight.

"_Was it that hard to lock the door, then?"_ Was Christina's reproach.

"_I was waiting for George to come first."_

"_In case you didn't notice, George has roommates he has to share the bathroom, so if you want to have sex with him in there, then go to your apartment or move in together somewhere."_

"Ok, this is too much." Derek groaned exasperated as he stood up.

Meredith stood up and looked at him with worry. "Are you leaving?"

"I am" Derek stated nervous as he started to pull the clothes back on him. "And you are coming with me."

Meredith sighed a little relieved to see that at least Derek continued to want her to be with him that night.

They both dressed back and taking Meredith's hand, Derek unlocked the door and opened it. He first glared each of the screamers and then, pulling Meredith after him he walked down the hall and downstairs.

They stormed out of the house right when Alex was about to walk in.

"Hey, what's going on?" He asked them confused when he saw their anger and urge to leave that house.

"Izzie, Christina, Callie and George" Derek stated with a harsh tone.

In other circumstances, Meredith would have snapped at Derek for the way he had answered to Alex, but now she knew how angry he was, so she didn't say anything.

"Oh…" Alex seemed to have understood the situation. "I am so sorry guys!" He apologized knowing that it was his girlfriend's fault for their ruined night.

"I will see you tomorrow." Meredith flashed him a discreet smile as she tried to keep it up with Derek's fast walk.

"Good night." Alex wished them, though it was hard to believe that they would have one.

"Night Alex." Meredith answered back and then she got in car.

"You were right." Meredith looked at Derek guilty.

"I know." He answered harsher than he would have wanted to make it sound. Reading Meredith's sadness from her eyes, he smiled and leaned to kiss her. "Where do we go from here?"

"I don't want Mark anymore." She stated with a shake from her head.

"On call room?" Derek asked her smiling.

"On call room." Meredith smiled back as she agreed.

"I can't believe that despite the fact that we have a new house, we are still homeless and forced to sleep into a cold on call room." After they had established that Derek wasn't mad of Meredith for her idea, Derek started to muttered frustrated all the way back to hospital about her friends, Mark, Izzie and all the things that kept bothering him lately.

Meredith understood his frustration so she didn't say anything. She kept smiling sympathetic at him and rubbed his leg as comfort.

Now they had got back to hospital and Derek locked the door on an empty on call room as his last statement left his mouth.

"Now you are overreacting, Derek." Meredith sat down on one of the two beds from down smiling at Derek.

"Am I, Meredith?" Derek almost burst stunned by her words.

"Come" Meredith held out a hand for him to join her.

Derek cooled down a little when he saw what calming and comforting smile Meredith was holding on her lips. He smiled and walked over to her. Taking her hand, he sat down next to her and held her hand on his lap as he leaned to her and kissed her cheek.

"Are you feeling better now?" Meredith asked him as she smoothed his cheek.

"No" Derek started to play the pouted role. "I hate everybody."

"Do you hate me?" Meredith looked at him with sadness in her eyes. "I knew you would hate after all these." She pulled away from him and rested her face into her hands. She knew very well what Derek meant to say with that. She knew he wasn't mad of her, but she found it cute to tease him a little.

Once that Meredith showed her sadness, the guilt washed over his face. From all the persons in the world, Meredith was the one he could not be mad of her; or he could, but not longer than a minute. She was acting her role so well, that Derek believed her. "Oh Mer, honey…" He put his arms around her and pulled into him. "I am not mad of you… at all… really." Derek tried to find fast the right words to sooth her. "You know how much I love you, right?" He looked down at her as he asked her that and his heart broke when he felt Meredith's shake from her head. "Meri, I could never be mad of you."

With a sudden move, Meredith cupped his face and pressed a strong kiss on his lips. A few giggles escaped from her mouth as her lips were stuck with his. 

Derek smiled at her reaction and when she pulled back, he shook his head laughing. "You got me fooled this time." 

Meredith laughed proud of her and leaning to him again, she let a quick kiss on his lips again. "I can fool you and tease you each time I want, because I am good actress."

"I can fool you and tease you too." Derek replied a little jealous of the fact that Meredith was considering herself better actor than him.

He was about to say something, when Meredith saw him and put a finger on his lips. She moved onto his lap, mounting him and wrapping her legs behind him. "Let's set things clear…" She cleared her throat as she prepared her lecture. "We are in this cold on call hospital, because it was your idea. Right now, I hate my friends too, also your friend and everybody else. I thought that my old house was much better than this cold on call room. Now we could go and find a hotel or we could stay here and heat up this room. Whatever your choice is, just stop complaining."

"To a hotel?" Derek burst angry. "No way. We are not going to waste any minute from this night and I am done… I am not complaining anymore." He ended his last statement with a cocky smile on his face.

"Ok, so we are good again?" Meredith asked him serious.

"We are more than good." Derek laughed reaching up to her lips. "We are horny."

Meredith laughed as she shook her head. "I know… I can feel that." She smirked dirty as her eyes were showing him his pants, from where a big bulge was pressing between her inner thighs.

"Good, so now you believe me." Derek stated with a chuckle. He took his both hands over her back and slowly he brought her body pressing against his.

"I believe you" she spoke up seductively against his lips as her fingers grabbed the hemline from his sweater. His black sweater, soon found its way up on his body and then down on floor, waiting to be followed by Derek's blue shirt, which Meredith started to unbutton it fast.

While Meredith was stripping him, Derek kept his eyes on her face, running slowly his fingers through her long dirty blonde hair.

Meredith pushed the shirt off from his shoulders and joined it to his sweater on the not that clean floor.

"We are both going to be all dusty in the morning." Meredith stated with a giggle.

"True" Derek laughed and cupped her face to let another kiss on those lips, which were making his heartbeat faster each time they were letting out her sweet giggle. "But… who cares?" Derek continued between short kisses. "As long … as… we are going … to be … sweaty … and sticking."

"True" Meredith laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck, using her hands to brush slowly Derek's hair.

"I am freezing in here, and your clothed body doesn't warm me at all." Derek stated as he pushed her back a little and started to unbutton her gray shirt.

Meredith agreed with a cocky smile and stood up from Derek's lap, allowing herself to get rid of those items.

Derek leaned back propping on his hands and watched with starving eyes how her shirt was revealing more and more of her silk and soft skin. The desire to touch her again and taste her started burning inside of him and inside of his pants. 

Meredith giggled at the urge he was unbuckling his belt, so she pushed down her jeans and stepping out of them, she made a step towards him and pulled the belt out of his jeans.

Derek could not resist anymore to the urge he had to bring her back into his arms and warm himself, though she was still wearing her lingerie. Just that in the second his hands grabbed her slim waist, Meredith pulled away giggling, leaving him confused.

"What's wrong?" He asked her with the same confusion in his voice as on his face. 

"Nothing's wrong." Meredith giggled and wriggled in front of him as a baby before a cuddle.

"Mer" Derek pleaded her smiling at her sweet and childish behavior.

"Everything is perfect." She stopped with the wriggle and smiled at him. "Seriously."

Derek groaned at her play and reached out with his hands to her waist. Meredith jumped a step back laughing. "No, no."

"Meredith, do you want me to chase you around this small box?" Derek laughed as he pointed the small area around them. "I could do it on the hospital's hallways also if you willing to."

"No" Meredith laughed at his ideas. She took his hand and returned into his arms. Immediately she found herself in the warmth of his embrace. She lowered her head to him and kissed softly his lips. "I don't want a chase." She whispered against his lips. She kissed him and looked into his eyes. "I want to apologize for all this madness." Derek opened the mouth to say something, but Meredith stopped him before he could make a sound. She put a finger on his lips to keep them sealed. "I know you are mad of me and I know I am not your favorite person right now, but…" 

"Mer…" Derek took her hand away from his mouth worried about the things she was saying to him.

Meredith continued to smile and kissed him fast to block any other word from him. "Let me finish." She smiled into his eyes to let him know that it was not that bad what she wanted to say. "I want to apologize for everything that happened this evening and I want you to accept my apologies."

Derek chuckled at her hint. "You should… because you have to make it up for many things."

"Don't worry! I know how to regain my forgiveness."

"I am not worried… I know you know." Derek chuckled with a dirty smirk. 

Meredith pushed him down on his back and when his body laid down, she strategically placed a knee between his thighs, right against his bulge.

At his groan, Meredith kept her knee there feeling him pulsating against it and she laid down on top of him. She started tracing kisses from his mouth, to his neck, down to his body and she stopped when she reached to his abdomen. She kneeled down beside the bed and with a pleased smile towards Derek, she unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans. He shifted his hips up to help her push the clothing item down.

Meredith giggled when she how big his boxers grew against his member. She drew his pants down to his feet and to teas him more, Meredith ran her hand over his member pressing a hard rub. "Oh…God" Derek gasped at her hard touch as his fingers clutched on the sheets around him. With a giggle, her fingers sneaked behind his waistband and dragged them down joining them to the pants.

Derek let out a moan when he felt himself released from that grip. He kept his eyes closed and tensed his body in the expectation of what else Meredith had prepared for him.

Meredith smiled wide at his content face and looked down at the large cock she had released. Her fingers touched it gently enjoying each moan Derek was letting out, and slowly she took him into her hand. She ran it up and down its length, slowly and gently, then faster and harder, before bringing her face lower and breathing over it.

Derek groaned at her hot breath and felt his body already shaking of desire. He pulled away a little, but just to stand up in his sit and be closer to Meredith.

Meredith continued rubbing him with smooth movements as she smiled cocky at him when their eyes met. 

Derek propped his body in one arm, while the other reached out to Meredith's hair. He brushed it gently and watched how she was driving him insane with her touch and her breath. He closed his eyes and let his head fell back when Meredith's lips surrounded his tip and instantly caused his fingers to clench into her hair. "Oh Mer…" He moaned louder when her lips tightened around him and started moving slowly on his member's length.

Her lips covered entirely his cock as they moved up and down pressing her tongue over it for a seductively massage. "Oh God…Mer" Derek was in ecstasy; his entire body was now all tensed and small sweats started to form on his forehead. She sucked it, rub it, licked it, faster or slower, in anyway she was finding cute to see him tortured. She could feel from the way that his member started pulsating that he was enjoying that.

Meredith pulled her mouth away which allowed the cold air from there to wash with frustration over Derek's face. "Meredith" He pleaded with his voice, unable to move or even to open his eyes and looked her. He pleaded her by calling her name to cover him back with her lips' warmth.

Meredith just giggled at him and delayed to answer to his pleading; in exchange, she just offered him a gentle rub.

"Mer" His pleaded became frustration when she continued to deprive him from all the previous treatment. The way he frowned his forehead and his mouth winced, melted her; so after she soaked it again with a lick and did the same thing with her lips, she covered it, taking it entirely into her mouth.

This time, her movements were more firm and fast, so Derek's already heated body wasn't late to explode, spilling out his hot white seed together with her name from his lips. 

Meredith swallowed the all thing and licked him clean, this time under the eyes of a more relaxed Derek. She smiled up at him and she was about to lick her lips, when Derek pulled her up, bringing her on his leg. His lips kissed her sweetly and cleaned the lips that had pleasured him so much.

Just from the way the passionate way they were kissing, you could tell that the fire of desire was still burning inside of them. They let their tongues play with each other, while their lips squashed between them.

Meredith was the one who pulled back first massaging her own lips to sooth the slight pain. She was smiling brightly and his smile was even brighter. Meredith ran a soft hand over his face wiping the few sweat drops left on his face. "Am I on the right way?" She asked him with a giggle.

"You are definitely on the right way." Derek smiled smoothing her hair to back. Both arms wrapped tightly around her slim body and easily he unhooked her bra. He pushed it down from her shoulders and soon that clothing item joined to the rest of the clothes down on floor. He laid her down on bed onto her back and laid down beside her, keeping his body on a side to face her. Derek kicked off his shoes and soon after, he pushed his pants and boxers off too.

When nothing else foreclosed him, his entire attention focused on Meredith's now almost bare body. He placed a leg over hers and moved closer, pressing against her body. 

Meredith's hand ran through his hair again as brush and as caress, and then along the arm he was propping his head on. "I love you, Derek!" She stated honestly looking straight into his eyes. "I never want to lose you and your love."

Derek bent over her and kissed her lips; "Never, Meredith" He whispered against her lips. "I love you way too much to lose you or you to let you lose me." His voice was shaky overwhelmed by all the love her was feeling for that woman. Derek chuckled when through the dim light coming from a small lamp, he saw the way that her eyes started to tear. He rubbed her cheek with the back of his palm and kissed her. She was under him now and felt in control over her body. That was what he wanted ever since her shirt left her soft smooth skin.

His hand roamed all over body with the desire to touch and feel more of her. Her cheek, her neck, her chest, the soft skin between her breasts, her hips and her legs were delight for his palm; a delight that fed up the fire inside of him. He touched her, so he needed more. He needed her taste on his lips and her breathing movements against them. He kissed her soft lips, the lips he loved the most. Her tongue was soft and warm and her moans were making it sweeter. He didn't want to leave those; his hunger for those lips was permanent, but he needed to have more. Her silk neck, now hardly breathing, met his kisses. He kissed it repetitively, in many spots. 

"Derek" It was his turn to earn sweet moans from her now. A shiver swept his body. To hear his name from her lips was the sweets song ever created.

He loved every inch of her perfect body, to feel it and taste it beneath his lips.

His palm defined the shape of her full breast and Derek let out a moan. He loved that, the sensation on her full and soft breast in his hand, to play with it and squeezed it a sponge.

"Derek" Meredith moaned his name louder and with more pleasure. That was what she definitely loved the most. She arched her back asking him to do more. 

Her moans and her pink erected nipple called his entire attention over the two big pear shaped parts of her body. His fingers gently pinched a nipple while her other breast received his hot moist mouth around him. He sucked softly her nipple, his tongue played around it as his hand continued to squeeze its softness. He would have loved to have it entirely in his mouth, but its volume was an obstacle. Derek satisfied his craving for her breasts only after he applied the same treatment to the other one.

He reached back up to her mouth and bit her bottom lip; once and gentle. His hand continued its roam over her body and stopped when it reached between her inner thighs.

"Do you I pleased you that much?" He chuckled cocky and almost proud of himself when his fingers touched her soaked panties.

"Oh God… Derek" Meredith was now lost in her own ecstasy and only her moans and accelerated breath answered for him. She closed her thighs as his hand covered her panties against her wetness and her hips buckled keeping it tight. 

Derek hovered over her face and watched with a content smile on his face how her closed eyes and her face feature were being washed over by desire.

He parted her legs again to free his hand and pushing the material to a side, his thumb rubbed over her clit.

"Oh God" Meredith gasped and opened her eyes as his touched sent waves of heat through her body. She smiled when she met Derek smile and closed her eyes back letting him please her.

Derek thrust a finger inside of her and kissed her open mouth. He thrust two fingers and slowly he moved them in and out without taking his eyes from her face. He loved to watch how her face expression was changing with each thrust of him and by that, he was changing the speed of his movements. It didn't take him long to feel her muscles tightening around his fingers letting him know that an orgasm was on its way.

It was now Meredith's turn to grip the sheets beside her as a wave of pleasures washed her body. "Derek" it was her last call before her body started to relax.

"I love you so much, Meredith!" Derek kissed one of her closed eyes. He took out his fingers and wiped them over his lips, and then he bent down to hers to share with her the same taste.

Meredith wrapped her arms around his neck as she held him into a long and deep kiss. 

They shared the taste of their love until neither of them could longer breathe.

"I love … you too" Meredith smiled and stated as she tried to catch back her breath.

Derek parted her legs and bent them from under the knees before he moved in between.

"No, no" Meredith stopped him fast pressing a hand on his chest to keep him away from him.

At first, Derek got worried confused when he saw her rejection, but then he saw her naughty smile and shook his head curious to find out what else she wanted.

"I am the one who is apologizing here." She giggled as she pushed him away from her and sent him onto his back. 

"Ok" Derek chuckled not bothered with her wish. 

Meredith stood up from bed and pushed her panties down while Derek pushed the blanket away from bed and he laid down on its length.

Meredith returned in bed and mounted as she bent her legs on each side of him. She lowered her body down to him and dropped a hot kiss on his lips.

"Mer, looked into my wallet." Derek said as he pointed down to his pants.

"What for?" She asked him confused.

"For a condom, Mer." 

"Derek" Meredith giggled. "I am on pills now, so we don't need condoms." Just that as she stated that, she stopped with a panicked look on her face.

"What is it?" Derek asked her also noticing her change.

"I am not sure if I took my pill today." Meredith said and bent down to reach to her bag.

Derek rolled his eyes amused. He knew her too well already. "Mer, take a condom now because the pill is useless if you didn't take it at the right time."

"Alright" Meredith groaned. She wasn't pleased to see how less trust Derek was having in her. She tried to reach over his jeans from the height she was standing on, but her fingertips were still far from them.

"Mer, get down and take them." Derek suggested with an amused voice at her stubbornness to leave him and get down from bed.

"You know what?" Meredith returned to her straight position. "Let's forget about condom and let's have a baby."

Derek shook his head disapproving her statement. "I don't want to have a baby just because you are too lazy to get off the bed." He grabbed her waist and pulled her down beside him. He kissed her before he stood up and picked up his pants.

"I gave a serious thought to this, Derek. I want to have a baby with you." Meredith was serious and Derek noticed it.

Derek took the condom and laid back down in bed beside her. He rubbed her cheek with his thumb as he leaned down and kissed her. "I want to have a baby with you too and I believe you…" Derek paused to let out a sigh before he continued. "But I also believe that this changed was caused by our fight and Mark's pregnancy… Angela's pregnancy" Derek changed it quickly when he realized what he had said. "You were right when we last talked about this. You are an intern and we just moved in together. Let's take it slowly and enjoy each step we make until the right time for a baby will come."

Derek was right. She got a little too excited after all the talks she had with Alex and Mark about babies. She cupped his face and pulled him for a kiss. Then she grabbed the condom from his hand and moved back up on him. 

Her fingers played in tease as they were rolling down the latex cover and she smiled cheeky at Derek's new face mimics. Her body lowered again to him and kissed his arisen chin, before she helped him inside of her. Derek took her small waste in his hands and let her control the slow rocks on him until he could not stand it anymore and he started moving her to go faster.

Though she wanted the control, she answered to his request and sped up her hips, soon building up hot sensations inside of her body. "Oh… Derek…" Her let head fell on back as she continued to hold her arms propped on his abdomen for more support.

"It feels so good… Mer" The ecstasy started wash over Derek also and started lose the control over his body when his hands started roaming all over her body and his hips moved faster bringing an alerter riding. "God… I love you Mer."

"I love you too" Meredith could answer back to his moan. She found on of his hands holing her waste; she took it and kissed it before placing it over her breast.

"Oh yeah…" That drove Derek crazy and made him move her from him a little so that he can stand up. He placed Meredith back on him and wrapped her legs behind him. Now he could feel her breath again, her skin against his and feel her warmth.

His mouth found her breast; he took it in his hand, kissed it tenderly and played with it, while Meredith's hands were running like crazy through his hair and she tried to keep a constant rhythm over her riding.

A new wave of pleasures brought them into an embrace; while Meredith's head was fallen over his shoulder, Derek buried his face into her neck's curve taking her butt into his hands controlling the movements.

"I am coming baby." Meredith breathed out the words with difficulty, as her lungs were air deprived.

"Tighter baby" Derek whispered when he started feeling her muscles tightening around his member. "Oh…" The words were stuck in his throat once that her muscles started squeeze him bringing him that warm and high sensation to his body making him feel as his brain was about to explode. 

Meredith was well tight on him and she let out a loud sighed once that the sensation started to fade away and she got back the control over her lungs.

They stayed there, in each other's arms, tightly hugged and powerless. Meredith was the first one who got back to her senses and kissing his cheek, she dismounted him and they both laid down on bed.

Derek brought her into his arms and held her with both arms wrapped around her.

"Are you ok?" He whispered when his breathing normalized.

Meredith looked up at him and smiled. That was obviously at a silly question. "I am more than ok."

Derek smiled lovingly looking into her eyes. He caressed her cheek and kissed her softly.

Meredith pulled out the blanket from behind her and Derek spread it over their sweaty bodies.

"I think that now I started to like hospital's bedrooms." Derek stated with a chuckle.

"Especially this one." Meredith giggled and snuggled in his arms. Her hand was making small circles on his chest, while his was slowly brushing her hair. "Richard would kill us if he finds out what have we done in here."

"At this point, I don't care." Derek said. 

Meredith looked at him and smiled "Me neither."

"George is an intern and Callie is a resident, so we are not the only couple here. I can't see why we should hide. I want to walk over you when I see you down the hall, take you in my arms and kiss you." Derek was not completely fine with the fact that they had to hide their love inside the hospital. He wanted to yell from hospital's roof how much he loves Meredith.  
On the other hand, Meredith wasn't very thrilled with that. "Let's not talk about this right now, ok?" She smiled slightly at him. They had a perfect night in a final and a serious talk was not what they needed to keep it perfect. "I am tired, happy and I want to fall asleep like that… happy." 

Derek smiled and agreed with her. "I love you, Meredith!" 

"I love you too, Derek!"

They closed their eyes, but neither of them fell asleep right away. They both wanted to embrace the moment.

**-------------**

**Ok, this one was the last update for this year. I brought the whole story here and starting next year, as I will write I will post the update here in the same time as on the other boards.**

**Thank you so much for all your support through this year! Have the best Christmas ever and great party for the New Year!**

**Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!**

**Dana**

**P.S. I will see you in January!**


	48. Complicated, but I still love you

Derek was the first one who woke up the next morning. It took him several seconds to wake up and realize were he was. He found himself in the on call room holding Meredith's back into his arms as her face was turned towards wall. Derek smiled as their make out session rewind in his head. He tightened his arms around Meredith and squeezed her body gently. This woman made him feel in a way that no other woman had; it was as if he was carrying all that love inside of him and still he thought he should offer her more.

He got carried away by his trance as he remembered how Meredith wanted to get pregnant. Derek knew she was sincere and she really wished for a baby, but still it was too soon for them. Although, an accident like that would not scare her that much anymore and deep down he was hoping for it to happen.

Derek stirred as he woke up from his trance and realized where they were and what time must be. He felt like he had slept for ages, that good and rested he felt. He looked at his watch and sighed with relief. It was just 6 o'clock. With all these, he still needed to wake up Meredith and make sure that she would be ready for work in time.

Derek sneaked out his arm from under her neck and stood up a little to bend over her. She was smiling in her sleep and her peaceful face almost made Derek curse himself for being the one who would broke her sleep. He smiled as he caressed gently her cheek and his smile grew even bigger when Meredith moaned his name. He leaned down to her and kissed her. "Wake up babe!" He whispered to her ear.

"Mmm…" Meredith moaned sleepy as she rolled over and sat onto her back. She was smiling wider too now.

"It's time to wake up" He whispered against her lips before he kissed them sweetly. "Come on babe!"

"Derek" Meredith whined. She looked at him with sleepy eyes and seemed to want to say something.

"What?" He laughed at her silence.

"I don't want to leave this room anymore." She sniffed and shifted closer to him snuggle against him.

Derek chuckled. His arms flew back around her and holding her tight, he tried to feel each inch of her skin on him. "I don't want either." He whispered as he placed his head on hers. "But someone might need this room also." He said after a few moments of silence.

"What time is it?" She asked her keeping her eyes closed.

"Just a little passed 6 o'clock. We need to sneak out of here while there still aren't too many people on hallways and then we have to shower and get read for work."

"Ok" Meredith sighed but showed no intention of moving her body from him.

Derek didn't want to let her go either and therefore, he continued to hold her longer. "We could get away for the weekend… just the two of us."

That caught Meredith's attention and interest and made her open her eyes and look up at him. "Where?"

"I don't know. We could find a place where to escape for two days. Are you interested?"

"Just the two of us?" She asked him with a smirk and Derek answered in the same manner. "Sure. When do we leave?"

"Not quite right now." Derek chuckled. "Maybe after we set up the house a little. I really don't want to go through what we went last evening."

"I thought you liked it." Meredith frowned as if he was suggesting that last night was a bad memory.

"I did like the time spent together and … I did like this … bedroom. We sure heated it." Derek stated with a cocky smile as he leaned down to her and kissed her. He moved on top of her and laid over her without pressing his entire weight on her body.

"And I think it is getting hot in here again." Meredith whispered against his lips before he crashed his against hers. "Derek" his name came out muffled from their glued lips.

There lips came unstuck when Derek pulled back and sighed. "I can't wait to go back into our big comfy warm bed."

Meredith sighed with a slight smile. She couldn't wait either. "I hope that Izzie did a very good job with that room and it worth the waiting and all the running from last night."

"I hope so too." Derek moved on his bedside and sighed. "Let's go now!"

"Derek" Meredith stood up a little and grabbed his arm when he stood up from bed.

Derek stopped and set down again. "What?"

"Am I forgiven?" She asked him with an eyebrow suggestively lifted.

Derek nodded while his face was smirking "You are more than forgiven. Now I think I owe you."

"Good" Meredith giggled and cupped his face to give him a soft kiss. "I can't wait to have our weekend together."

"Me neither." Derek returned the kiss before he smiled and stood up.

They left the on call room and headed towards elevators; Meredith to go to intern's locker room to shower and get ready for work and Derek to go to his locker room and do the exact same thing as she. They both kept smiling at each other and their happiness caught some curious eyes from the few medical staff present at that hour on hospital's hallways.

"Mer" Derek whispered to her ear. "We have witnesses." He stated as he pulled away from Meredith to lean against the wall waiting together for elevator to get there.

Meredith looked around her and saw a few walking stares. She leaned against the wall beside him and smiled. "I hope Richard won't see us like this!"

"Slight chances! It's still early." Derek answered convinced on his own words.

"This hospital is Weber's second home, so there are big chances to meet him." Richard and Ellis were married for 5 years already, so an early meeting with Richard wouldn't have surprised Meredith too much.

"How old were you when you left Seattle and moved with your uncle?" Derek asked her. They didn't talk too much about their past, so Derek wanted to find out more about her. He asked her with discretion making it sound as a casual question. He saw her many times backing out when her childhood became their topic. He knew it was a painful topic for her, so that's why he didn't push her to talk to him about that.

Meredith smiled hiding the sadness visible only in her voice. "12" She answered simply "And I returned 5 months ago when I first met you! I just visited them for a week or so in my holidays."

Derek looked at her with pity and Meredith giggled shaking her head. "It wasn't that bad. I started a new life with my uncle and then I started living on my own in college."

Derek brushed the hair away from her face hiding it behind the ear. Meredith proved to know Richard very well when the elevator arrived there; opening its doors, Richard showed up assisting at Derek's moment of tenderness with Meredith. He cleared his throat as he saw them and instantly Meredith and Derek pulled apart from each other.

"Good morning!" Richard saluted them with a grave voice and made them a gesture to step inside the elevator.

Meredith looked at Derek knowingly and smiled slightly as she stepped inside. "Good morning, Richard!"

Derek followed her and stopped beside as he greeted Richard a little more cheerful than Meredith. "Morning, Chief!"

They were the only passengers from elevator; therefore, Richard didn't hesitate to speak as the door closed. "You are an intern, Meredith and this is not good for your image and your career as doctor in this hospital won't be easy." He stated keeping his serious attitude and without looking back at neither of them. The door opened at the next level and Richard made a step outside before he turned around and looked at them. "This won't affect you, Derek, but it will affect you for sure, Meredith." With that, he walked outside and let the door close.

Meredith sighed as she looked down, while Derek rubbed his face in frustration. "He is right!" He muttered nervous.

"I am sorry, Derek!" She whispered keeping her back on him.

He had heard that before from Meredith and each time it came with something bad for them. He put his arms around her waist and pulled closer to him so that he could hug her back. "Don't be!" He whispered back and kissed her neck.

"We can't show up together on hallways, Derek!" She stated as she looked up at him.

"I know" He kissed her forehead tightening his arms around her. "I guess we will have to work here and play at home." He joked as attempt to light her a little.

"I guess so." Meredith smiled and kissed his cheek.

Derek smiled relieved to see her not backing out from their relationship and kissed softly her lips. "It's complicated, Meredith, but I still love you!"

Meredith turned around without leaving his arms and hugged him. "I love you too!"

Their moment was soon interrupt but a jingle that announced their arrival on a new level. They pulled apart smiling at each other. "I guess I won't work on neuro today!" Meredith giggled as she waited for the door to open.

"I guess you won't, but I will see you around." Derek assured smiling confident.

"Bye" She walked out and stopped to watch the door closing.

Meredith wasn't very surprised with the fact that Richard caught her and Derek, but she was a little shocked to meet him right after she and Derek had talked about him. Everything he had said to them was true and well meant; she knew that but it was hard to accept. Her biggest fear was that Derek might get tired of their complicate relationship and he would end it up. She was more relieved when she felt Derek's arms around her right after that and his comforting words. Meredith knew he was honest, but still, she couldn't hide the fear of losing him one day.


	49. New bedroom! Is it YAY?

Meredith was swamped in work with all the tests that Burke had asked her to run for their surgery, so she skipped lunch. It hadn't been a slower day for Derek either, so they decided to push the visit of their new bedroom for later that night when they would all get off from work.

Meredith and Christina had been Burke's interns that day and they both assisted to his surgery. It was a long intervention, so they scrubbed out after 6 hours.

"I am dead-beat." Meredith whined as she and Christina walked outside the scrubbing room. She tried to apply a massage to her neck on her own as attempt to relax her muscles a little.

While Meredith was hardly dragging her feet, Christina was full of energy radiating of happiness. She slapped hard Meredith's back, almost cutting her breath, and leaned to her ear whispering. "Go and get laid now."

"This is what are you going to do now?" Meredith asked her a little jealous.

"Yup" Christina smirked. "But I need to eat something first, for more energy… you know." She stated smirking dirty at her friend. "Are you coming with me?"

"I am." Meredith nodded and followed her down the hall. "Not that I am going to get something good after this." She muttered sighing disappointed.

Christina and Burke had been capable to keep their relationship or fling, whatever they were having, secret and out of Richard's ears. Now, apparently, George was sleeping together with one of their bosses and they were doing it discreetly too. She sighed as she followed Christina.

They bought the food and together with another intern, who had watched their surgery, they sat down on a table. They were eating and talking about the heart transplant, when Meredith caught the sight of Derek at the coffee cart buying himself coffee. She couldn't help but smile and stare at him from the second she saw him. Christina and the other female intern were left out of her attention.

Derek turned around to leave after he had paid and taken his coffee, but his attention seemed called into Meredith's direction. He smiled brightly as he saw her.

Meredith saw him taking out his cell phone and pressing some buttons, she knew she was going to receive something on hers. Indeed, seconds later she felt her phone vibrating in her lab coat's pocket. She took it out and opening the message she read: _"Down in basement?"_

Meredith put the phone back into her pocket and nodded discreetly at him.

Derek winked and smiling at her, he went ahead.

Christina was too busy bragging with her performance during the surgery and surprisingly, the other intern seemed amazed by what she was hearing, so neither of them caught Meredith's daze.

"I have something to do." Meredith stated standing up fast from table. The other women just nodded at her without giving too much importance to her leaving.

Meredith picked up her sandwich, the salad and the bottle of water and left the cafeteria. She tried to hurry hoping that she would catch Derek and go with him there, but when she reached on hallway, Derek was no where to be seen. She thought that maybe it was better this and not to be seen together with him too much.

When she got down in basement, Meredith saw Derek jumping up on gurney with his coffee cup and a medical journal. Meredith sped up her steps and in a second, she jumped up beside him.

Derek flinched when Meredith joined him, surprised by her sudden appearance. "Hey" He smiled as he put aside his coffee and medical journal and sneaked arm around her waist to bring her closer to him.

"Hi" Meredith greeted him with a quick kiss.

"I watched you in the OR." Derek smiled proudly at her.

"I know." she giggled. They had stolen glances from each other in all the time that Derek stayed up in gallery. She took a bite from her sandwich and then she leaned over Derek to take his coffee.

Derek watched amused how she served herself from his coffee. "You can have a sip from my coffee if you want." He offered sarcastic while Meredith was taking a sip from the coffee cup already.

After she sipped, she handed it back to Derek smiling. "Thanks! That was very generous of you."

Derek chuckled and leaned down to kiss her. Meredith put down her food and took his face into her hands allowing him to taste the left drop of coffee from her bottom lip. "I've missed you." She whispered against his lips.

"I've missed you too." Now it was Derek's turn to have her face between his palms and as he looked into her eyes, he ran his thumb over her lips.

"It's not fair." Meredith muttered lost in his eyes.

"What's not fair?" Derek chuckled. He thought that she was in the mood for play. She was still smiling, so he didn't get to the real meaning of her statement.

"Christina has Burke, George has Torres and none speaks about them or has something against them." Meredith whined. She was no longer smiling. She leaned her back against the wall and started eating again from her food.

Derek was dazed. "Rewind" He said. "Christina has who?" He asked her with shock in his voice. He had no idea that Christina and Burke were also together. "Burke?"

Meredith realized what she had just said and smiled guilty at him. "I am sorry! You weren't supposed to know that."

"Wow" Derek looked at ahead surprised. "Thanks for sharing it with me." He chuckled.

"Please don't say about this to anyone!" She pleaded him.

"I won't" Derek assured her smiling. He put his arm around her shoulder and brought her so that she could lay her head on his shoulder. Derek felt her sighing and understood her disappointment. "Nobody talks about them because nobody knows about them." He whispered as attempt to comfort her.

"Yeah, but how can they hide their relationships this well?" Meredith asked.

Derek smiled as the answer to her question came spontaneous from his heart. "Because they don't share as much love as we do."

Meredith looked up at him and smiled. He was right. "I love you!"

Derek caressed gently her cheek and kissed her. "I love you too!" He said back. "See? As long as we can't stop saying this to each other, we can't hide."

Meredith smiled and then she put her head back on his shoulder. "I can't wait to see our room."

"Did Izzie give you any detail about how does it look?" Derek asked her.

"No. I insisted, but she is so secretive." Meredith answered. "She said she bought some things to decorate it. That's all that she told me."

"We have to pay her for those things."

"I will ask her." Meredith answered. She took the coffee cup from his hand and sipped from it again.

"You should keep it." Derek chuckled as he pushed the cup back to her.

At the end of their shift, Meredith, Alex and Izzie gathered in the main lobby to wait for Derek. Derek showed up minutes later.

"Are we ready to go?" Derek asked them. He walked over to Meredith and taking her in his arms, he kissed her softly on lips.

"We are ready! You are the one who was late." She giggled as she stole one more kiss from him.

"Sweet, but gross." Alex interrupted their intimacy "We are in public people! Geez!!!"

"That is sweet, Alex" Izzie snapped at him. "Why can't we have what they have?"

"A very expensive house?" Alex asked her in tease. He knew very well what she was referring at.

Izzie rolled her eyes annoyed as she turned towards Meredith and Derek "You will do it soon in your new bedroom." She smirked suggestively and very proud of herself.

"Let's go then." Derek smiled and motioned to the girls to go ahead.

They went outside through the sliding doors of hospital and headed straight to the parking lot; Meredith with Derek to his car and Izzie with Alex to her car.

"We go ahead and you follow us." Derek shouted at them before he got into his car.

"Ok, but wait for us in front of the house. You can't see the bedroom before we get there." Izzie requested.

"Ok" Derek chuckled and shut his door closed. "See?" He smiled at Meredith as he put on his seatbelt. "People envy us for our relationship."

Meredith smiled at him. "Is this supposed to make me feel better?"

"Yes" Derek answered simply.

"Ok then. I feel better." She giggled and leaned to him for his.

Derek could not resist and taking her face between his hands, he pressed a strong kiss on her lips.

Excited with that, Meredith opened her mouth inviting him for a real and more passionate kiss. Derek put his arms around her neck and kissed her with hunger while his hands played with her hair. None of them seemed to want to end up what they had started when Derek leaned her down to his chest and held her as if she was a baby. "I love you!" He whispered as he looked lovingly in her eyes running his hand through her hair.

"I love you too, Derek!" Meredith whispered back, her eyes watering of happiness.

Their moment of tenderness was brutally interrupted by Alex's horn, which had stopped the car beside theirs. "Come on people! I know that love is in the air, but yours is making the air toxic." He joked. "Plus, I want to get home before midnight!"

Meredith stood up from Derek smiling cheeky, first at Alex and then at Derek.

"We are going!" Derek answered with a chuckle and in the same time, he drove away. "See?" He smiled at Meredith. "Jealous."

Meredith smiled and as she put her hand on his leg, she let it rest there.

Soon, Derek pulled the car in front of their house. "At least is still standing." He chuckled as he looked outside at their house.

"Now you are mean!" Meredith giggled slapping him playful.

Derek caught her hand and kissed it "I know." Then he opened his door and stepped out of the car, immediately followed by Meredith.

Alex and Izzie could not keep the speed with Derek's car, so they got way behind them. Therefore, Meredith and Dere sat down on stairs to wait for them.

About 5 minutes later, they saw the headlights from Izzie's car coming towards them. Alex hadn't even stopped the ignition, when Izzie jumped out of the car. "I hope that you didn't have a sneak peek inside!" She warned them as she hurried to them.

Derek stood up and helped Meredith up also. "We didn't!" Derek assured her. "Luckily, is not raining." He mentioned. It was a chill night of September and indeed, it wasn't raining.

"Good! Let's go inside then!" Izzie urged him to unlock the door faster.

Derek rolled his eyes amused and pushed the door open letting the girls inside first. Izzie almost knocked Meredith down when she ran inside to go head.

"God" Meredith groaned as she hung on Derek to regain her stability.

Derek chuckled and patted her back as comfort.

"Sorry" Alex was as amused at Derek after he saw Izzie's excitement.

"It better be good." Meredith muttered shaking her head.

By the time they got upstairs, Izzie was already in their bedroom with its door closed. Meredith grabbed the knob and as she twisted it to open the door, she found out that the door was locked. "Izzie, why did you lock yourself up inside?" She asked her through door.

"_Just a second, please!"_ Izzie shouted sounding as if she was hurrying.

Meredith turned her back to door and leaned her back against it smiling at Derek and Alex.

"I am sure it looks great!" Alex winked at her.

"At this point, I really don't care how it looks like." Meredith muttered and sighed exhausted. "All I want is to return in my bed."

"So do I." Derek stated as he came over to Meredith and pressed her body with his against the door. He brushed away her hair from face before he leaned down to her and kissed her.

Meredith giggled more cheerful and wrapping her arms around him, she kissed him back.

At that scene, Alex gave a hard knock in door, desperately shouting at Izzie "Open the door right now, Izzie! Or they are going to have sex on hall… in front of me!"

Derek did not let Meredith from his arms, but he could still slap Alex over his back.

"_Just a second."_ Izzie laughed from the other side of the door and indeed, her voice sounded more close to door now.

Meredith pulled back when they heard the latch twisting and the door opening. In a split second, Izzie came out and closed the door behind her immediately. She grinned proudly at Meredith and Derek before she asked them "Are you ready?"

"Yes, they are ready!" Alex made a gesture to push her away from door, but Izzie resisted and slapped his hand and shot him a deadly glare. After that, she smiled back at Meredith and Derek. "Ok guys" She took a deep breath and opened the door wide inviting them inside.

Meredith walked inside first with Derek right behind them and Alex after them.

"Oh…My…Fucking…God!" Meredith exclaimed and her jaw dropped shocked to find out the new face of their bedroom.

Alex, who was right behind her, elbowed her to make her control herself. Just that after her burst, she got quiet and with an inexpressive look on her face.

Their bedroom was looking like a little girl's one. Somehow, she had amazingly painted two walls in colors of pink and two in green with designs of rhombuses. The new bed, together with the new furniture, nightstands, dresser and mirror were made from wood solids and veneers with an antiqued rubbed ivory finish, the headboard and footboard's bed were scalloped with raised panels and curved molding. A piece of pink carpet covered the middle part of floor, while the curtain was simply white.

Derek was as shocked as Meredith as, but he was also carrying some amusement on his face, while Alex looked as if he was about to burst into laugh.

"So? What do think?" Izzie asked them with excitement.

Meredith was too shocked to speak. She could not stop from staring at all the things from around her. Therefore, Derek had to save the impressions. "It's… Wow!!" That was all that Derek could say in that moment.

"It looks great babe!" Alex walked over to Izzie and sneaked an arm around her waist. "You got them speechless." He chuckled at their looks and kissed Izzie.

"Yeah… we are… speechless." Derek smiled trying to act politely. "But how could you bring all the furniture in just one day? And how could you paint the walls like this?" Derek asked her curiously. It might not have been what they wanted, but Derek was impressed to see all the hard work that Izzie had put in there.

"Well…" Izzie smiled cheeky at all of them. "With some tips… some smiles." She giggled.

"Some what?" Alex burst unpleasantly surprised.

Izzie didn't answer. She just smiled and cupped his face kissing him softly.

While Izzie and Alex had their moment, Meredith mouthed to Derek "It's horrible."

Derek smiled and agreed with disappointment. It was a cute room… for a little girl, but not for them.

"Tell us how much it cost you?" Derek asked her.

"What?" Izzie looked at him offended. "That's my business. Consider this room my gift for you… you know… as for a new house!" She smiled brightly at them.

Her generosity and kind gesture made Meredith and Derek feel worse. How they were going to get rid of that look of their bedroom, if that was a gift from Izzie?

"Mer? What do you think?" Meredith hadn't commented anything upon that, so Izzie was curious to find out her first impression.

When Izzie asked her that, Meredith was about to have her second reaction and it wasn't a very nice one considering that she was ready to burst into laugh. Derek noticed that, he put an arm around her waist and nudged her discreetly to control herself.

"Oh… that's… lovely Izz!" Meredith smiled at Izzie faking an impressed look. "You worked… hard."

"Oh it was my pleasure." Izzie giggled very proud of herself.

"I can see that." Meredith muttered in whisper and only Derek could hear her. He laughed discreetly as he kissed her cheek.

"Thank you so much, Izzie… for all these!" Derek was ready now to make their way out of that room and end with that awkwardness. "It's great to have a decent place to sleep now."

"Aww …You're very welcome!" Izzie smiled at them.

"Who wants to eat something?" Derek asked them.

"I will go make a snack." Izzie generously offered to go and prepare something for them. She kissed Alex and gave a quick hug to Meredith before she left the bedroom.

When he was sure that Izzie was downstairs, Alex cracked into laugh. "Let me know how the sex is in your new bedroom!" He teased them as he patted Derek's shoulder faking the pity.

Derek slapped him harder and laughing, he kicked him out of there. He closed the door and returned to Meredith.

"Oh my God, Derek! Does she think we are kids?" Meredith laughed as she gave one more look to their room.

Derek chuckled as he hugged her back, tightly holding his arms around her waist. "It's not that bad." He tried to bring to light the good part from Izzie's work.

"I suppose." She chuckled. "We can't keep this room." Meredith stated after a short pause.

"We'll see what we can do." Derek kissed her and pulled back from her taking her by hand. "Now let's go and be good hosts."

Meredith smiled and followed him outside.

After a quick snack and after the avoidance of a new topic regarding the new bedroom, Izzie and Alex told them 'Good night' and Meredith and Derek got ready for sleep.

Derek was the last one who left the bathroom and when he returned to their bedroom, he found Meredith standing in the middle of the room staring around her. He chuckled as he walked over to her and hugged her. "Come on, don't be shy! It's still our room. We had sex in here, remember?"

Meredith looked at him and laughed.

"We even have a carpet now." Derek chuckled pointing out to it. "It's pink, but… we didn't have a carpet before."

"Derek stop!" Meredith laughed.

"Come" Derek kissed her and took her hand to lead her to their new bed. Just that Meredith refused to go with him and pulled her hand back. "Do you want me to be the first one who tries it?" Derek asked her.

Meredith answered biting her lip and nodded.

"Ok" Derek laughed rolling his eyes and pulled over the covers. He got in bed and laid down drawing the covers back up to him. "See?" He chuckled as he tucked himself. "It's not that bad." He smiled seductively at her as attempt to bring her in bed. When Meredith smiled in the same manner, Derek lifted the covers from her side of bed.

Meredith ran to it and jumped inside. Derek covered her and brought her in his arms. He leaned down to her and kissed her softly at first and as the kiss became more passionate, he moved on top of her. He sneaked a hand under her night ratty t-shirt to feel her soft skin burning.

Meredith's hand roamed through his hair while she kissed him with hunger and she seemed to have forgotten about the new look of their bedroom.

Derek took out his hand and propping it beside Meredith's face, he broke the kiss and sighed frustrated. "I can't do it." He muttered as he nuzzled in Meredith's neck curve.

"What?" Meredith burst shocked. "What's wrong? Did I do anything?" She asked him worried thinking that it was her fault.

"Oh no." Derek looked at her quickly. "it's not you… it's… this room." He rolled onto his back beside Meredith and sighed again. "I feel like …I am having sex in my daughter's room." He chuckled looking at Meredith.

Meredith giggled and kissed quickly his lips. "Let's sleep in the guest room."

"Let's go!" Derek liked the proposal and stood up right away.

They moved in the other room and felt more relaxed when they found themselves inside of a room for adults. This time, Meredith mounted on Derek and took off her t-shirt; Derek ran his hands up and down her naked body and after he took her by her waist, he brought her down to him. Meredith brushed her lips against his, before she nipped one of them and ran her tongue over them seductively suggesting him to let it inside. Derek held her hair to back holding her head into his hands and thrust his tongue inside of her mouth turning her soft kiss from earlier into a passionate one. She moaned softly when Derek's hand started roaming along her back, from time to time sneaking to her chest barely coming in contact with her breast.

Meredith pulled her mouth back for some air and smiling lovingly at him, she traced kissed from his cheek, down to her neck and lower to his chest.

They both stopped instantly when they heard a cell phone ringing in the other room.

"This can't be happening." Meredith cried as she moved down on her bedside. Both of them wanted to ignore it, but knowing that it might be from hospital, they knew they have to answer it.

It was Derek's cell phone so Derek stood up. He leaned down to Meredith kissed her quickly before he got out of bed. "Stay here… don't move!"

Meredith lying on her stomach hugging a pillow and smiling at him. "I am not moving."

Derek winked and left to answer that call.

That call lasted almost five minutes and when Derek finally returned to Meredith, happy that he didn't have to go to hospital, he found Meredith in the same position, but sleeping.

He smiled and got in bed beside her. When he kissed her, Meredith just moaned sleepy and shifted on a side with her back to Derek. Derek didn't mind her movement, because he could easily take her body in his arms. He hugged her bare upper body and spooned her, soon drifting to sleep also.

-------------------

The next day, Meredith and Derek decided to pack some of their things and move to a hotel. They appreciated Izzie's gesture, but they couldn't sleep in that room. Therefore, in the same day, Meredith found someone to help them with the painting and the redecoration of the entire house. Feeling guilty for ruining Izzie's work, they asked the designer to move the whole style into another room.

At first they hided the changing from Izzie, but they knew that at one point she would find out, so they decided to confess. Izzie wasn't happy to hear that and for two days she refused to talk to any of them. After two days, she started melting. After all, Meredith and Derek kept that design, though they did it for another room. She was ready to forget them and for that she warned them that they would better have a baby girl in the near future, or adopt one if their first born would be a boy.

The whole house work lasted almost three weeks, while Meredith and Derek stayed to hotel.

After these weeks their house got a new look and they were both very thrilled with it.

9


	50. Surprises

They had just moved back into the house the previous day, but unfortunately they couldn't enjoy and inaugurate their bedroom together. They both had a hard day at work and Meredith was too tired to wait for Derek and go home together and when Derek arrived home, he found Meredith sleeping already. Derek didn't mind at all, because he was too tired anyway and because he knew that the next day Meredith would have the day off and he wouldn't have to go to hospital until noon.

When Derek started stirring awake he did it with that plan in his head. Therefore, he rolled over to the other side of the bed to hug his girlfriend. A smile had grown already on his face as he did that, happy to be finally able to have her back into his arms. Smiling sleepy and with his eyes closed, Derek hugged a missing girlfriend, meaning her pillow. His eyes opened instantly as he felt the cold object and not Meredith's warm and soft body.

Derek propped himself up on an elbow, trying to find a sign of Meredith. There was silence in their bathroom and there was no note from her on pillow or on any of the nightstands; only silence. Derek threw himself back on bed with a groan. He wasn't happy to see his plans changed. Then he spotted Meredith's bag on a chair and knew for sure that she was still at home.

Derek stretched his body before he got out of be and walked over to window. He opened the curtains to reveal another gray view of September. He opened wide a window to let the fresh air invade there bedroom. It was no longer raining, and the cold air was feeling just great. Derek shivered at the contact with the cold air and after he inhaled some of it, he turned around and went to see where Meredith had run.

**----------------**

There was no sign of Meredith downstairs, so Derek guessed that she might be in kitchen. Indeed, when he stepped inside, he saw Meredith small frame standing on a barstool at counter with her back turned to him.

He slowly approached her and hugged her tightly from back causing her a stir of scare.

"Derek" Meredith burst nervous at his joke.

Derek didn't let himself intimidated by her unfriendly greeting, so he continued to hold her in his arms leaning her body back to him. "Morning" He kissed her cheek and then rubbed his cheek on hers.

"Derek, you need to wash your teeth and shave your beard." Meredith whined cranky as she tried to push him away from her.

Derek chuckled; he was into a very good mood and nothing seemed to can make it change. He kissed her again and walked behind the counter to have her face to face. "And why are we cranky this morning?" He asked her laughing. It was obvious that nothing could ruin his good mood, not even Meredith's regular cranky moods, which he always found adorable.

"I am not cranky…" Meredith muttered nervous and sipped from her cup with coffee. "You are annoying."

Derek chuckled. "I might be annoying, but I am smiling…see? It's a beautiful day."

Meredith looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "It's a rainy day."

Derek leaned over the counter and taking her face in his hands, dropped a quick kiss over her lips. "That's why I need you to be my ray of sunshine."

Meredith escaped a giggle and Derek took it as a sign that he was on the right way. He kissed her again lingering this time over her lips. He pulled back smiling and chuckle when he saw her smiling too. "Are you cranky because you fell asleep without me last night?" He asked her laughing and turned around to pour himself some coffee.

"Yeah sure" Meredith giggled with sarcasm. It was a real sarcasm, because the last night when she got home she was dead-beat and fell asleep from the moment that her head touched the pillow.

When Derek reached to the coffee machine, he found a dirty pan standing beside the oven "What happened here?" Derek asked as he picked up the pan to show it to Meredith. When he looked back at her, Derek met her frowned face and understood the reason for her cranky mood. "Aww sweetie." Derek smiled at her ready to burst into laugh.

"Shut up!" Meredith glared him and looked down at her cup of coffee and the plate with roasted French toast.

Derek looked amused in that pan and tried to figure out what did she try to prepare there. "Was this supposed to be scrambled eggs?" He asked her ready to burst into laugh.

Derek brought the pan into the sink and then he walked over to Meredith. Coming behind her, he gathered her hair to back and kissed her cheek. "Oh Meri, sweetie, but how did you manage to burn this?" He asked her with an amused and pity voice.

Meredith pushed herself away from Derek and shot him a deadly glare. "Are you calling be me stupid?"

"What?" Derek looked worried at her when he saw her reaction. "I don't think you are stupid, Mer." He said with a soft voice. He set down on a chair beside her and put a hand over her back rubbing it gently. "But what happened?"

Meredith was no longer angry, but she was now embarrassed. Smiling shyly, she started playing with her toast. "Please don't ask me that!"

That made Derek very curios, but not wishing to upset her, he gave up and kissed her cheek. "I'll make something for us to eat." He stated as he stood up and headed to fridge.

"I am already eating my breakfast, so make it only for you." Meredith told him.

Derek raised an eyebrow. "French toast and coffee? That's not breakfast, Meredith. You could have at least put some butter on it."

"I am fine." Meredith muttered nervous.

"I will make some pancakes." Derek stated and took out from fridge everything he needed for their breakfast, because he knew that she was refusing, Meredith would want some.

Meredith tried to show her indifference and continued to sip from her coffee and take small bites from her toast.

"What made you wake up so early?" Derek asked her.

"It's passed 8:30, Derek; it's not late." She answered.

"But what made you leave me? I was expecting to find you next to me and hug you, but instead, I hugged a cold pillow." He said with fake hurt face. "Do you know how unpleasant it is to hug a cold pillow?"

Meredith smiled at him with a face to let him know that he did not impress her with that. "I know and I lived."

Derek just grinned and started mixing the ingredients for their pancakes while Meredith continued with her 'breakfast'.

"So…" Meredith was now in a better mood and she started flirting with Derek. "… how unpleasant it was to hug a cold pillow?"

Derek checked her out to be sure that she wasn't mocking him. "Very unpleasant." Meredith smiled at him and Derek could read something dirty in her eyes. "Are you going to make it up to me?" He asked as flirty as she had asked him.

Meredith looked down at her plat and shrugged. "Maybe"

Derek put aside the bowl and came over to her. Standing behind her, he turned her around to face him and smiled looking into her eyes. He leaned down to her and kissed her. "Do you want to do it now?" He whispered against her lips.

Meredith put her arms around his waist and shook her head. "Not now. Maybe after I will eat some pancakes."

"Hmm… I could share mine with you." Derek answered.

"Anything only to make me part my legs, isn't it?" Meredith giggled and lifted her head to steal one more kiss from him.

Derek offered her one more kiss and chuckled. "Parting your legs is priceless."

"Nasty man." Meredith laughed and slapped his arm playfully.

"You are nasty too." Derek could not let her face out of his hands and definitely not could keep his lips away from hers. "We are matching pair."

"I am not nasty." Meredith giggled.

Derek kissed her again. "Not always, but trust me… you are."

"Is it bad that we are nasty?" Meredith asked him seductively brushing her lips over his.

"No" Derek shook his head. "Definitely not bad." And as he said that, Derek brought her body closer to him and protectively wrapping his arms around her they shared a long loving kiss.

Derek pulled back a little and still holding her tight into his arms, he smiled looking in her eyes. "I have an idea." He stated and dropped one quick kiss on her lips.

"You ideas scare me." Meredith smiled back.

"I know, but you always end up liking them." He smirked knowingly at her. She was scared when Ellis found out about their relationship, when people found out about them or when Derek asked her to move in together with him, but she always ended up by being happy with his ideas.

"It's about our weekend? Are you finally going to tell me where are we going?" Meredith asked him.

Derek shook his head. "It's not about that and you will find out in only two days from now."

"But Derek…" Meredith whined. "I need to know what should I pack."

Derek kissed her to stop her whining. "I will take care of your packing."

"Ok" She sighed resigned. "So what do you have in mind now?"

Derek pulled away from her and took her hand in his smiling nervous.


	51. Plans

"Derek" Meredith shoved his hand smiling, but it was obvious for Derek that she was starting freaking out.

"Ok, so I have this idea." He started hesitantly which made Meredith even more nervous.

"I am officially freaking out now, Derek so you would better say it fast or at all." She warned him with a serious look.

Derek smiled widely and took her face in his hands for one more kiss. "It's not that bad."

"Oh so it is bad." Meredith stated pulling back from him.

"It's not bad, Mer." He smiled confidently. "I was thinking that it would be nice if we will invite Richard for dinner tonight."

Meredith remained quiet for a second and then the confusion crossed her face. "Why?"

"To see the new house… he is practically your father, Mer." He smiled tenderly at her. "Maybe like this he will agree more with our relationship. I can still feel his deadly glares when we meet in the ORs or on hallways."

"Derek" Meredith whined unhappy with his idea.

"Mer" Derek whined exactly like Meredith, copying her attitude.

Meredith giggled at his silly attitude and slapped him playfully. "Do we really have to?" She asked him hopeful.

Derek put his arms around her and brought her back to him. He smoothed her hair to back and kissed her softly. "We have to, because this is the right thing to do. Richard loves and I am sure that this is going to impress him." He tried a way to make her accept his idea. Meredith never doubted of Richard's feelings for her and she was also found of him and had a huge respect for the man who replaced her birth father. "Besides…" Derek continued. "I want my soon-to-be father-in-law to like me."

Now that was something that made Meredith turn white. She froze as he heard Derek's last statement. "Derek" She looked at him with stunned eyes and she could hardly find the energy to say his word.

Derek understood her fear, but he continued to smile lovingly at her. "I am not proposing you, Mer." Holding her in his arms, Derek felt her sighing relieved. He was a little disappointed by that, but he expected that reaction from her. "At least not yet." He whispered to her ear.

Meredith looked up at him and smiled. "Ok"

"Ok what?" Derek asked her confused. "Ok we can invite Richard to dinner? Or ok, I am going to ask you to marry me later?"

Meredith smiled at him. "Ok to both."

"Thank you!" Derek kissed her.

"Thank you!" Meredith kissed him back, thanking him for his patience. "We should invite Alex and Izzie too and the other guys. They haven't seen the new look of the house yet."

"Mer" Derek smiled at her. "Why are you so uncomfortable with the idea of having Richard with us?"

Meredith sighed. "He is… intimidating." She muttered as she looked down at her hands. "I am feeling great, Derek." She looked at him with smiling eyes. "I am happy and I don't want his lectures to ruin this."

"Meredith, he gave us so many lectures until now, do you think he still has more?" Derek asked her trying to make her feel more confident.

Meredith smiled and then she turned around on her seat. "I am hungry, Derek."

Derek smiled happy to see her caving and returned to his pancakes. "Eat your toast then." He teased her.

Meredith sniffed smiling and pushed the plate with toast away from her. "No more toast please!"

"Are you going to tell me how did you burn the scrambled eggs?" Derek asked her curios to find out how could she burn something that simple as scrambled eggs.

"No" Meredith answered simply and started playing with her cup of coffee.

"Then you should eat your toast." Derek was forcing her to confess.

"Ok" Meredith was not ready to give up, so she brought the plate back to her.

Derek rolled his eyes amused by her stubbornness and grabbed the plate from her. "It won't last long."

Meredith grinned proudly and stood up from her chair. She walked behind the counter where Derek was also, and took the dirty pan. "I will wash this in the meantime." She said.

In the next second, Derek grabbed the pan from her hand. "We will still need this pan, Mer!" He laughed making fun of her.

Meredith glared him and grabbing the pan back from him, she hit him with it without carrying too much about the food that would spear on his clothes.

Oil and some eggs landed on Derek's t-shirt. "Meredith" Derek yelled at her and grabbed a rag in the same time to clean his t-shirt.

Meredith froze with the pan in hand when she saw the mess that she had caused and stared at him like that for several seconds until she couldn't hold it anymore and burst into laugh.

Derek was mad of her only for a second, because when she was laughing, she was glowing and charming each time. "Are you finding this funny?"

Meredith held back the laugh and biting her bottom lip, she shook her head.

"This isn't funny, Meredith!" Derek warned her laughing and made a giant step towards her.

When she saw his threatening move, Meredith threw the pan in sink and quickly ran on the other side of the counter.

"You'd better stop running, Meredith because I am going to catch you anyway." Derek made a smaller step towards her getting to a side of counter.

"Derek, don't you dare to touch me. Go and shower!" Meredith giggled keeping a large space between them.

"After you dirtied my clothes with whatever you tried to cook there, are you expecting me to leave just like that without sharing some with your clothes too?" He chuckled and took another small step towards her.

"Derek" Meredith giggled, begging him this time. "Please!"

"So you are begging me, huh?" Derek chuckled and made another step forward with a smirk imprinted on his face.

"Derek" Meredith laughed with a pleading voice and ran across the counter.

"Ok" Derek stopped. "If you don't want to come and hug me, then you won't get anything else for breakfast besides your toast. So what's your choice: a hug and pancakes or toast?"

"Toast" Meredith giggled and gave him the answer right away.

"Really?" Derek could not believe that she had just refused his pancakes only not get her clothes dirty.

"Go and take a shower, Derek!" She urged him. "I can make myself pancakes."

At her statement, Derek looked at her frightened. "Meredith, we just got a new kitchen, so please sit down on table and stay still." He warned her very serious as he walked out of kitchen. "You will get in big trouble if you do anything, Meredith! I mean it!" Derek shot her another serious look.

Meredith giggled and rolled her eyes amused.

"Meredith" Derek called her again to be serious.

Meredith rolled her eyes again and set down on a chair at table to calm Derek down and make him leave from there already.

Derek nodded content to see her obedient and left the kitchen to shower. Right after Derek was out of her sight and she was sure that he reached to stairs, Meredith stood up and walked over to sink.

Derek walked out of their bedroom and pleasant smell filled his nostrils. At first, he was confused not recognizing it; but when his stomach started growling he knew what it was. He started running downstairs and from there straight to kitchen. When he walked inside, Derek froze. Meredith was flipping pancakes from one side to another and the kitchen around her looked exactly how he had left it. "Meredith?" Derek could not believe how she hadn't burned the kitchen yet, especially after she had tried to prepare some simple eggs earlier.

"See?" Meredith smirked at him. "You should apologize."

Derek chuckled as he walked over to her and stopping behind her, he looked over her shoulder and then at the pancakes she had already made. "What have you done?"

"Breakfast, Derek." Meredith replied with a giggle.

"That's … impressive." Derek admitted impressed with her always-surprising cooking skills.

"Thank you!" Meredith smiled proudly at him and came on tiptoes to reach for a kiss from him.

Derek put an arm around her waist and kissed her. "Now you have to tell me how in the world did you burn those eggs?"

"Derek" Meredith cried out to leave her alone with that.

"Meredith, this was not the first time you cooked, so?"

"Fine" Meredith took the pan from oven and put it aside. She sighed as she turned around to face Derek. "I had just put the pan on oven, when Alex called me on my cell-phone. I picked it up and I took my eyes away from it for only a minute."

"Meredith, a minute is how much you need to make scrambled eggs and what was so important in your chat with Alex so that you couldn't make him wait?" At first he asked her amused and then he crossed his arms as he mentioned Alex.

"Well…" Meredith bitted her bottom lip and looked at him guilty.

"What?" Derek asked her curious.

"I didn't really want to stay home all day today, especially since we are going to be gone for the weekend and I am going to miss from work."

Derek leaned against the counter and shook his head smiling at her.

"But there is nothing interesting happening there, so I guess that I am going to stay home." Meredith added and at the end, she let out a disappointed sigh.

Derek grabbed her by her wrist and pulled her to him. He brought her into his arms and kissed her. "I don't have to be at hospital until noon, so let's eat and then we'll find a way to entertain ourselves."

"Ok" Meredith giggled and kissed him softly. "I made some delicious pancakes."

Derek chuckled and took her hand leading her to table. "I made those."

"What?" Meredith looked him hurt. Was he really assuming all the merits for their breakfast?

Derek smiled and rolled his eyes. "I mixed the ingredients… you put them on pan… our pancakes."

Meredith smiled satisfied. "That's much better!"

Derek held out the chair for her to sit down. "May I serve you?" He asked her leaned down to her ear.

"You may." Meredith turned her face to him having it an inch away from his and kissed him.

Derek kissed the top of her head and went to bring their breakfast.

4


	52. Knock me down

After breakfast, Derek cleaned up the kitchen while Meredith went found something to make her busy for the rest of the day.

When everything was sparkling in kitchen again, Derek smiled content with his work and went to see what Meredith was doing.

Walking in living room, he saw her sitting lazy on couch in front of the TV with her legs resting on the coffee table. Derek stopped in the doorway having her from a side to his view and watched her smiling. She was wearing her already known ratty shirt from Dartmouth and some of her favorite trousers, ratty as well. Apparently, she loved the ratty style; at least when she was at home and needed relaxation. To Derek, everything she was putting on was amazing and each time he found her sexier than ever; especially when she was putting on… nothing.

"Anything interesting on TV?" He asked her and walked over to her. He collapsed on couch next to her and held out an arm for her to come to him.

Meredith shifted and put her head down on his shoulder. "No" She answered bored and continued to surf through channels. "Sports? Do you like sports?" She stopped for a second on one of the channels, but she didn't leave time for Derek to answered because she had already turned it off.

"Hey, I like sports." Derek protested and grabbed the remote control out of her hands. He turned the TV back on exactly on the sport channel. "Football… I like football." He stated and propped his legs on the coffee as well ready to watch football, though it was a rerun.

Meredith didn't seem disturbed by his wish to watch football. As Derek laid on his back a little, Meredith put her head down on his chest allowing him to play with her hair. "I played football once." Meredith mumbled quietly.

Derek looked down at her amused but the thought of Meredith playing football. "Really"

Meredith giggled and kept her head down on him. "Yeah" She had anticipated his reaction.

"Was it … professional football… or…?" He still could not believe that a girl like Meredith used to play football.

Meredith laughed and raised her head to look at him. "Once… in college."

"Really?" Derek laughed imaging her on a football field.

"Yeah really." Meredith laughed as well. "Alex had taught me some things and I started to like, so one day the guys invited me to play a game with them and I accepted."

"Were you … fat in college?" Derek asked her with the same amused face.

"No" Meredith cut him right away. "But I was a strong person, Derek… and I still am." She described herself and Derek made a funny face. Meredith gasped at his dare not to believe her and slapped him playfully. "You know I could knock you down if I want."

"I know babe." Derek took her chin with his fingers and brought it upper to kiss her softly.

Meredith moved on top of him and made him lay down on couch. "You always knock me down when you are on top of me." Derek chuckled, gently stroking her hair to back.

Meredith mounted him and leaned her head down to him. She nipped his bottom lip before she did the same thing with the upper one and then seductively she ran her tongue over his lips, ignoring his, now, parted mouth. After she had seductively played with his lips, Meredith laid down on him and smiled looking into his eyes.

"So whose team won that day?" Derek asked her.

"Umm…" Meredith smiled a little embarrassed. "I only played for … 5 minutes I think."

"Let me guess… you knocked all of them down in 5 minutes." Derek laughed making fun of her.

"Hey, I was one, they were… 7, I think."

"So? How did you end up? Knocked down?" Derek asked her more curios now.

Meredith looked away smiling and put her head down on him again. "I had passed by the defensive line when that idiot of Jim jumped on me, bruised my body and broke me two ribs… and I also broke by wrist when I passed through defensive."

Derek winced just imaging her sent down, but he could not help but laugh. "I knew why I don't like this friend of yours." He said referring at Jim and at their conflicts from months ago.

"Yeah… but I lived." Meredith smiled up at him and Derek leaned down to kiss her. "Speaking of friends…" Meredith started. "How is Mark?" She asked him curious. "Is it just me or he looks…"

"…happy." Derek hurried to fill the question for her. "I really don't know what's up with him. We haven't hung out much during the past weeks and I think he avoids me."

Meredith shrugged and seemed to be ready to drop the subject. Then she looked up at him. "Do you think that the whole pregnancy thing affected him so bad that he started… I don't know… take drugs?" She asked him and made Derek looked at her shocked at first, but then he shook his head. "I don't think so… maybe I should pay him a visit in one of these days."

"You should" Meredith smiled at him. With that, Mark was out of their topic.

Meredith positioned herself comfortable on top of him and gently she started nipping and sucking from his lips. Derek had a few attempts to catch her lips and kiss her, but each time, Meredith pulled back giggling amused to teas him.

Derek brought his arms on her back and slowly they started roaming up and down on it until they reached under her t-shirt to her skin.

His touches brought shivers into her body and more need to make love with him. Meredith ran her tongue over his lips, sweetly moaning against them as the tip of her tongue felt the taste of his lips. She opened her mouth wider to cover his lips, softly kissing him while her tongue thrust into his mouth. Derek welcomed it and their tongues frenetically started rubbing against each other.

As the kiss became more passionate and the moans were louder, they felt their bodies heating and the need to let their skin meet as soon as possible. Meredith stood up mounting his hips and giggled as her inner thighs met the bulge formed inside his pants.

"I told you… you knock me down when you are on top of me." Derek chuckled and pushed her hair to back to hold her clear face between his hands.

Meredith leaned down at him and dropped a quick kiss over them before she stood up again and started unbuttoning his shirt. Derek helped her finish with that faster, starting with the bottom buttons while she was opening the upper ones.

Exposing his bare chest, Meredith ran her hands all over it before she leaned down to him. She kissed him softly on lips while Derek clutched his fingers into her hair, leading her head down to his neck and body.

Meredith traced moist kisses from his neck down to his chest, seductively hovering over his nipples.

She stood up and climbed down from him and from couch while she took off her shirt and pushed down her trousers leaving only the panties on. Stepping out of the trousers, Meredith mounted back on Derek, back on his hips and now his bulge hit harder in her inner thighs.

Meredith propped her hands firmly on Derek's body giving him time to massage and play with her breast. She arched her head to back at the feeling of his warm hands fully covering her breasts and escaped a moan of pleasure as Derek pinched her erected nipples and came up to have her body in his arms.

He needed to taste from the sweetness of her skin and the fullness of her soft breasts.

Meredith tied her arms around his neck holding him close to her moaning of pleasure while her fingers slowly brushed the back of his neck. Derek ran his palm under the breast line, gently taking its fullness in it. He squeezed it gently enjoying his softness before he let his tongue trace a wet mark around her nipple. Her breaths started accelerating and she felt getting wetter than she already was. "Derek" she moaned softly overwhelmed by the high feeling that his kisses were making her live.

Derek traces the line of kisses upper to her chest, her collarbone, her slim neck until it reached with urge to her jaw and mouth. "Meredith" He whispered breathless by his own pleasure with the need to feel and taste as much as possible from her. He held her head still in his hands as his mouth started tasting hers, from passion to brutality.

In the need for air, Meredith pulled back from his hands, smiling and licking her swollen lips. She dropped one last quick kiss before she flipped him on his back and she dismounted him again. She unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants. With one swift move, Meredith dragged him down to his ankles in the same time with his boxers.

Feeling released from the pants' grip, Derek groaned loud of pleasure. Meredith giggled excited by the dimension of his erection and climbed back on top of him. This time she sat down upper on his abdomen and leaned down to kiss him. Her lips dropped quick kisses on his lips before they moved down at his neck and lower at his chest. While she licked and nipped his nipples, her hand found his balls. She played with them alternating from gentle to brutal, each time earning a loud groan of her name from him until he breathlessly pleaded her "Mer" His hands were now roaming all over her body, touching and losing himself in senses with each part he was feeling in his palms.

Meredith finished the trace of her kiss down at his abdomen. She sat down on his legs now and taking his large erection in her hand, her fingers slowly caressed it while she licked her lips. She leaned her head down to him to lick its tip and then the length of its shaft. Her lips gently surrounded him and in slow motion, they started pressing suction with up and down motions closely followed by her hand with the same rhythm.

Derek was lost in pleasure, with his hands clutched in Meredith's hair moving them in the same rhythm with her hand. His eyes were shut tight, his back arched to her and his breath was panting. "Oh…Meredith… babe…God!" he hardly could moan as he felt his orgasm coming. He let a loud groan as his seed exploded in her mouth and his brain in his head. His body finally relaxed enjoying the clean that Meredith was giving him. Derek welcomed her in his arms, when Meredith laid down on him. He kissed her softly, exhausted, but lovingly. "Thank you, babe!" He breathed against her lips smiling lovingly in her eyes.

"Then thank me." Meredith giggled as took his hand and placed it between her inner thighs."

Derek chuckled amazed by the wetness from her panties and sliding a finger under them, he started pushing him down from her hips. He rolled her over carefully with her back down on couch, while he stood up and stepped outside his pants. Derek kneeled beside the couch at level of her legs and pushed the panties down until he took them out and disposed them somewhere around him. Then he looked at her admiring her naked body, which was now lying there in front of trembling of pleasure and passion. His hand defined the shape of her each leg, kissing their lengths and their thighs, then it had the soft warm skin of her abdomen and breasts under its touch.

Their lips met again and started devouring each other, while her hands were running up and down his back and he had one of his hands propped beside her head and the other one roamed along her body, until it found again her wet center.

Derek parted her legs a little and sneaked the thumb between them. He rubbed it against her clit and her throbbing pussy seemed to call for it inside. He thrust it inside of her with a fast motion and instantly her body tensed and her back arched to him. "Oh Derek" She moaned of pleasure. Now she was the one lost in pleasure, with her fingers clutched in his curls; her lips were now unable to kiss and do something else but moan. "Derek" she moaned loudly.

Derek kissed her mouth catching in the same time another moan. "You are so ready, babe." Derek was surprised to find her so wet and find his thumb covered by her juice.

"I am… I am, Derek." Meredith moaned desperately needing for more. "I need you, Derek."

Her pleading moans, her bare body were enough to make him feel the need for her again. He took out his thumb from her and after he tasted from her juice, he stood up and climbed up on couch. The small space from that couch, made Derek lift her leg up on it, while he parted wide the other one. He slowly slid inside of her moaning at the sweet pleasure of contact with her inside.

"Come here" Meredith called him down to her.

Derek laid down on top of her, while Meredith hugged his waist with her legs, and picked up the thrusts inside of her.

"This feels so good." Meredith whispered softly to his ear.

"It does." Derek approved her with a growl as he thrust harder. "So good…" He groaned as he went deeper and harder inside of her.

His face sunk in her hair, her fingernails started digging in the skin of his back as they the orgasm building inside of their bodies.

They felt the spasm from their muscles and everything became unclearly and felt like floating when they reached to their climax.

They stood still, panting for air in each other's arms. Derek held his face in the curve of her neck, breathing in the scent of wetness and lavender of hair and Meredith gently caressed the spots she had previously harmed.

Derek kissed her cheek and smiled madly in love at her. Meredith responded with the same love and softly she kissed him back.

Derek sighed and reluctantly, he slipped out of her. He could have stayed like that forever, to feel their bodies as one, but they both needed to move.

Meredith stood up a little allowing him to lay back and then she laid down in his arms. Their damp bodies started feeling the chill. For late cold evenings or entertainments like this one, they had a blanked folded up on couch. Derek pulled it down to them and unfolded it as he threw it over them. They cuddled under it, Meredith putting an arm around him and Derek taking her protectively into his embrace.

"It looks like The Giants scored too." Meredith muttered between giggles referring at the football game which had been playing during their sexual game and just ended.

Derek chuckled proudly and took her chin between his fingers to bring it up and kiss her.

"Can you turn it down, please?" Meredith asked him already getting sleepy in his arm.

"Sure" Derek looked around them after the remote control. He saw it down beside the couch, so he stretched his arm down to it and turned off the TV.

They lay there cuddled in each other's arms; the small space from that couch seemed too big for them. The more hard pressed they were into each other the happier they were. They were both calm and happy with the present status of their relationship. Everyone knew about them and they weren't hiding anymore. They both felt their life perfect at that point.

Meredith was the first one who drifted to sleep. Derek listened her breathing against his chest, slowly running his finger through her hair. Leaning his head down to her, Derek breathed in the sweet scent of her hair and closed his eyes, resting with her in his arms.

6


	53. Is she happy?

His eyes fluttered open slowly adjusting at the sunlight. Derek looked down at Meredith and smiled as he saw her still sleeping peacefully nestled at his chest. One of his arms was wrapped around her neck, so gently he started running the fingers through her hair. He leaned his head to her and gave her a kiss on forehead.

Meredith moaned sleepy as she started waking up. As he saw that, Derek chuckled quietly and kissed her again. Meredith raised her face to him still sleeping to receive more than kiss on forehead.

Derek took her chin between his fingers and dropped a soft kiss over her lips. "Did you sleep well?" He asked her.

"Mhmm" Meredith answered sleepy but carrying a huge smile on her face. She slowly opened her eyes as well to meet his big smile. "Hey" she saluted him huskily.

"Hey" Derek chuckled and kissed her again.

Meredith crawled upper on him to be closer to his face. She settled herself on top of him, lying on her stomach. "That was a great nap." Meredith came face to face with him and grinned.

"It was the best nap ever." Derek gave her a quick kiss.

Meredith giggled and started playing with his hair. "When do you have to leave at hospital?" She asked him.

Just then, Derek realized that he didn't know for how long they had slept. He checked his watch and in the next second, Derek held her on arms as he stood up and put her back down on couch. "In 30 minutes." Derek dropped a quick kiss on her forehead and started looking around him after his boxers.

"What!" Meredith exclaimed disappointed. Derek shared the same look with her and smiled. "You can stay here and wait for me until I get back." He smirked dirty at her. Once he found his boxers, he put them on and leaned down to Meredith to kiss her again and tuck her in.

"This means that you changed your mind over the dinner you suggested to have with Richard this evening?" Meredith asked him hopefully.

Derek winced as she remembered him about that. "That slipped out of my mind, but no… we are still going to invite Richard tonight."

"Are you sure? In this case I won't be able to wait for you here." Meredith smiled suggestively at him.

"Some other time, babe!" Derek smiled knowingly letting her know that the dinner with Richard still stands up. "I don't think I will have time to get home in time, so you can order the food." As he said that, Derek stood up and started walking away.

"Derek" Meredith whined from her lying position on couch.

"You are not allowed alone in kitchen, Meredith." Derek warned her smiling from the doorway. "At least not around the stove." Derek chuckled and disappeared on hall.

"Derek" Meredith called after him with a whining voice.

"Love you too, Mer!" Derek shouted back.

Meredith sniffed and settled on back with her arms crossed against the chest. "I don't want to have Richard at dinner." She muttered sulk.

A few minutes later, when Derek returned in living room, he found Meredith with the same sulk face. Derek leaned over her and with a chuckle left one more kiss on her lips. "Don't be a baby, Mer!"

Meredith stood up in her sit drawing the blanket to cover her body and snuggled beside him.

"It's going to be just a dinner, Mer!" Derek put an arm around her and brought her head to rest on him. "We'll eat, talk about hospital and then he'll leave."

"I know, but still… it's… uncomfortable for me." Meredith sighed.

"It was uncomfortable when you were having the dinner with them without me." Derek chuckled very confident. That managed to bring a smile on Meredith's face and as reward, she crashed her lips over his. "You are running late." Meredith pulled back smiling.

"I know" Derek ran his hand through her hair to brush it slowly and stood up reluctantly. Meredith followed him up and wrapped her body with the blanket.

She walked him to door and Derek stopped on porch and turned to her. "Be a good girl." He gave her one last kiss before he climbed down the stairs.

"I will… daddy," Meredith replayed playfully.

Derek waved a hand in air as goodbye and drove away.

----------------------------

"Dr. Shepherd." Derek heard his name after he got out of elevator on the surgical floor. He stopped and turned around to answer to Richard's call. "Hello, Chief!" Derek smiled content to have the chance to launch the invitation for dinner.

"You are late, Shepherd." Richard greeted him with a different mood than Derek's.

"I know… the traffic." Derek lied an excuse, which Richard didn't really pay attention. "I need you for a consult. Do you have time now?"

"Umm… yes, I am following you." Derek made him a gesture to walk with him. "What plans do you have for tonight?" Derek asked him trying to sound casual.

Richard looked at him curious and shrugged. "I don't have any." He didn't give too much importance to Derek's question as he took it as a casual question to make the time pass faster until they would get to their destination.

"Then, Meredith and I are inviting you to have dinner with us tonight." Derek gave him a glance to check precautious his reaction.

"You are?" Richard looked at him more curious than before. "Why?"

"Because…" Derek found a little weird Richard's question. "Because Meredith lives with me and… she is like a daughter to you… right?" Derek asked him.

"I heard that you moved into a new house." Richard stated.

"We did and we also redecorated it. So… are you coming?" Derek asked him hopefully.

Richard stopped from their track, which thing made Derek to stop also and look back at him.

"Is Meredith… happy?" Richard asked Derek hesitant. He had a closer relationship with Meredith than she had with Ellis, but still they didn't have the father/daughter relationship he would have wanted.

Derek smiled and nodded. "We both are." He answered.

Richard and nodded and picked up their track. "What hour?"

Derek smiled satisfied and followed his boss. "How about 8 o'clock?"

"Ok… we'll see." Richard answered.

----------------------

It was passed 8:30 in the evening when two cars pulled in front of the house. The first one was Derek's car and the second one was Richard's car.

"Impressive." Richard stated as he got out of his car and admired and frontage of their new house.

"Thank you!" Derek chuckled proudly following Richard's vision line. "You should see the interior." He looked at Richard with a smirk.

Richard smiled politely and made him a gesture "Shall we?"

"Sure" Derek broke his admiration for his own house and led Richard inside.

From the second they walked inside, they felt a pleasant smell of something baking which had filled the house with a sweet scent of vanilla.

"She can cook?" For the first time that day, Derek saw Richard's rigid face melting as he asked that.

Derek chuckled and shrugged. "Sometimes." Meredith succeeded to impress him with a few meals and cookies, but the successes hadn't been as often as the failures were. This time, no matter how much the smell made him drool, Derek still had some fears knowing Meredith alone in kitchen.

"That's a change." Richard seemed very impressed to discover that skill at Meredith.

Derek smiled knowingly and made him a sign to follow him in kitchen.

Same as in the morning, Derek found Meredith sitting in front of the counter, this time, with her back on him.

Derek walked to her and wrapped his arms around her, causing her a shriek of scare. "Derek" Meredith hammered him with a slap on his arm.

"Sorry!" Derek chuckled and kissed her forehead. Derek saw her dressing a cake in chocolate. "Chocolate cake, Meredith? I thought I told you something before I left." He teased her and stuck his finger in the bowl with chocolate. Derek licked his finger and found the chocolate surprisingly tasty with a light flavor of vanilla in it. "This is good."

"Of course it's good!" Meredith snapped at him playfully. "I made it." She smirked proudly.

Derek just loved the childish attitude she was adopting in front of him from time to time, so he couldn't help not to take her face in his hands and kiss her.

Meredith dropped the spatula somewhere on counter and brought her arms around him. "I missed you." She confessed as she dropped many fast kisses in his lips.

Derek held her head steady in his hands and gave her a strong kiss as a last one. "I missed you too." He smiled lovingly staring into her eyes.

Richard seemed forgotten by Derek and since the scene between Meredith and Derek was getting from loving to hot, he decided to make his presence there notable and cleared his throat.

Instantly, Meredith pushed Derek away from him and saw Richard at the entrance in kitchen. "Richard… hi!" Meredith blushed lightly as she saw him witness at their moment of tenderness.

"Good evening, Meredith!" Richard didn't look more comfortable than Meredith did either.

Meredith looked at Derek, shot him a deadly glare as she muttered in whisper, and smacked his arm. "Why didn't you tell me he is here?"

Derek simply laughed and winked at her. "It looks like we are going to have dessert for dinner." Derek smiled proudly at Richard.

"When did you learn how to cook?" Richard asked Meredith as he made his way inside the kitchen.

Meredith tried not to make such a big deal and shrugged. "Not for long."

Derek felt the moment as a perfect one to show Richard how perfect he found his relationship with her stepdaughter. "Since we moved in." He said and put an arm around Meredith's waist. "She wants to keep me, so she tries a lot of methods to impress me." Derek smiled cocky at Richard and then looked down at Meredith to plant a quick kiss on her lips.

Meredith shook her head disapproving his behavior, but the smile from her face and the way she put her hand over Derek's arm proved how much she loved his moments of sweetness.

Richard smiled warmly visibly touched to see the love between his stepdaughter and Derek. He never said it, but he tried to show it… his love for Meredith. "It's good to have a motivation." Richard smiled warmly at them.

Derek still holding Meredith by her waist leaned down to her and gave her a quick kiss on cheek. As he paid more attention around him, Derek saw some casseroles from the food that Meredith had ordered in. "But I suppose that I am not such a great motivation yet." He chuckled.

Meredith and Richard followed his vision line and understood what he was talking about. Meredith slapped his arm playfully. "You didn't call to tell me what hour you are coming, so I have to heat it." She said.

Derek winked and let her waist off his hand. "Don't worry! I will take care of that." He stated and immediately saw a shade of panic on Meredith's face. Derek guessed the reason for it, but he didn't want her let avoid a talk with Richard. He leaned to her and kissed sweetly her cheek. "I'm the chef in this kitchen."

"But Derek!" Meredith whined. "I am in charge with the dinner." She protested hoping that she would avoid spending some time alone with Richard.

Derek shook his head disapproving and sneaking an arm around her waist again, he pulled her into him and leaned to her ear. "Don't be rude, Meredith." He whispered as he kissed her temple.

Meredith sighed resigned and nodded.

"Why don't you go and gave Richard a tour of the house?" Derek pulled back and smiled at them. "I kind of want to brag at Richard with it." Derek smirked with a chuckle.

Meredith rolled her eyes and giggled, while Richard shook his head smiling.

"Let's go, Richard!" Meredith walked over to him and led him outside the kitchen.

Richard put his hand gently on Meredith's back and followed her.

Meredith had started the tour from downstairs, showing Richard the living room, the bathroom, the office and a part from the backyard, as much as it could be seen during the darkness. Then, she led him upstairs where she showed him the master bedroom and one of the guest's rooms. As they passed by a closed door, Meredith stopped and giggled. "So…?" She asked him trying to hide her amusement. "What do you think?"

Richard looked at her suspiciously but into a final nodded. "Impressive. It worth it the money." He said.

Meredith was still amused by something and hardly could hold her laugh back.

"Is something wrong, Mer? Do I have something on clothes or face?" Richard was as amused as Meredith was to see her attitude, but he was also curious to find out what could she find so amusing.

"Oh no, no" Meredith laughed shaking her head. "It's just…" She rambled laughing and pointed to the door behind her. "This room"

"What about this room?" Richard asked her curiously.

Meredith laughed and grabbed the doorknob. "It was kind of a gift from Izzie." She said as she pushed the door open and flicked the light on.

From the hallway, Richard saw a pink light at first, but as he walked inside, he was in awe. His steps froze in the doorway as he stared dazed at Izzie's pink room. With a slow and shock movement, Richard turned to look at Meredith, who was watching carefully his reaction. Richard opened the mouth to say something, but no word or sound came out.

Meredith realized then what he was thinking of and shook her head laughing. "Oh… I am not pregnant." She stated laughing.

Richard instantly relaxed and started breathing again. "Then…" He looked at her confused expecting an explication for Izzie's reason to make them a gift like that.

"Well… Izzie offered to help us decorate our bedroom and… that's what she thought about it." Meredith explained.

"Ok, but… now what?" Richard asked her still confused. "Are you … I don't know… you two want to have a baby?"

Meredith smiled and looked at back at the look of that room. "One day… I don't know." she smiled shyly at him. "Izzie warned us that we would better have someone live in it in future."

"Do you want to see someone living in this room?" He asked her. Meredith didn't say it in words, but the sparkle from her eyes confirmed. "Are you happy, Mer?"

Meredith nodded and again, there was something brightly in her eyes.

Richard held out his hand for her and Meredith took it. "I am happy for you, Mer." He pulled her to him and kissed her forehead. "Do you think he is done with the food?" Richard asked as he pulled back.

"You heard him. He is the chef here, so he is the best." Meredith giggled and walked him back downstairs.

_**-------------------**_

_**I am sorry it took me so long to update this fic. Now I am back and I hope I will be able to update it more often.**_

_**This was the first part from their dinner with Richard.**_

6


	54. Think about it

They had just reached to stairs when Richard's hand held Meredith's arms firmly and made her stop. "I need to tell you something." He said in low voice making sure that Derek wouldn't hear them.

"What is it?" Meredith asked curious as she turned towards him.

"It about your mother." Richard answered simply, already knowing Meredith's reaction.

Meredith shook her head and turned around to climb down the stairs. "Meredith" Richard called her with a pleading voice.

"I don't want to talk about her." Meredith shook her head without looking at him.

"Aren't at least asking me how is she doing?" Richard asked her.

Meredith sighed resigned. She appreciated Richard concern for her and his attempts to improve the relationship mother and daughter, but he never succeeded and talking about Ellis wasn't what Meredith was in the mood for, especially for their dinner.

"I am sure she is doing great there. She is an extraordinary doctor." Meredith answered simply, still without looking at him.

"Each time she calls me, she asks me about you. How are you doing? and I tell her you are learning so many things at hospital, about your surgeries. I also tell her how happy you and Derek are." Richard came behind her and put a hand on her back, gently trying to comfort her.

"Good" Was all that Meredith could say.

"Meredith, I am not tell you all these to make you feel bad. I just want you to know that she thinks about you and she cares about you." Richard spoke out comforting.

Meredith sighed and nodded reluctantly. Maybe he was right, but he could also say it just to make her talk to her mother.

"Do you know what day is Saturday?" Richard asked her.

"I know." Meredith looked back at him and nodded. "We should go downstairs." She says as she climbed down the first stair. "The dinner must be ready."

Richard sighed disappointed at Meredith's coldness for her mother and followed her downstairs.

"Hey" Meredith bumped into Derek, who was just coming out from kitchen. "I was coming to call you for dinner." He said catching Meredith in his arms.

The topic about her mother disturbed her a little, so she found herself now in the position of faking a smile. Derek noticed it right away and looked at her questioning.

"Let's eat then." Meredith smiled at him and sneaked her hand around his arm.

Derek understood that whatever was going on with her wasn't that bad, so he decided to leave it for later when they would be alone and Meredith could open for him. "So what do you think about the house?" Derek asked Richard trying to build a comfortable and pleasant talk.

"It's a great house. Like I said… impressive." Richard answered sincerely and followed Meredith and Derek in kitchen.

Derek had sat the table and the food was already on plates. Derek motioned to Richard his seat and then held out the chair for Meredith to sit down across from Richard. Derek pulled his chair as well and sat down next to Meredith.

"I saw the pink room and I have to admit that it was the one I liked the most." Richard stated with a shyly chuckle.

Derek laughed finding his statement very cute and grinned at Meredith. "Would like the idea of seeing it occupied?" Derek asked him.

"I would lie if I say I wouldn't" Richard chuckled discreetly, but regained his serious posture fast. "But I don't think it's the best time."

"We know." Derek answered. He looked at Meredith to check how their last part of talk affected her. Meredith turned her head to him and smiled lovingly. This subject didn't seem to scare her that much. He put his hand over hers and she squeezed it lightly.

"I know I haven't been your supporter at first, but I am happy to see Meredith happy." Richard confessed after he had cleared his throat to prepare his speech as serious as he could. "You seem like a decent man, Derek and the fact that your relationship didn't interfere with your careers makes me even more content about it."

Derek and Meredith smiled proud at each other. "One thing I want to recommend you." They looked back at Richard, who didn't look as if he had finishes his speech. "Stop using the on call rooms … together." He cleared his throat as he said the last part of his speech. He made it clear what he was referring at, and being a little uncomfortable with it, he started eating from the pastas that Derek had heated for their dinner.

As they saw Richard eating already, Derek chuckled and leaned to Meredith for a quick kiss.

They started eating and next few minutes passed in silence. The sound of their forks and glasses had been the only noise in those minutes.

Richard wiped his mouth discreetly using a napkin and took a sip from his glass of water. As he put it down, he didn't show any intention of getting back to eating right away. "So…" He tried to break the silence between them. "Did you make a decision upon what specialty you will choose next year?" He asked Meredith.

Meredith sipped from her water and as she put the glass down, she shrugged a little unsure. "Maybe general." She answered.

Derek and she could see Richard's face lighting proud as he heard her answer. "Like your mother."

"Yeah" Meredith answered dryly, trying not to show too much importance in her choice.

"I told her she would have a wider field of practice." Derek stated as he smiled proudly at Meredith.

"Oh" Richard looked surprised. "I would have bet that you would convince her to follow you in neurology."

Meredith frowned as she heard that. "He is my boyfriend, not my mentor. The decisions I make for my career are mine only." Her jaw clutched trying not to burst nervous.

Richard realized the inappropriate comment he had made and shook his head apologetically. "I am sorry." He muttered with guilt. "I didn't mean to make it sound like that."

Derek took Meredith's hand and squeezed it as comfort. "It's ok. We know." Derek replied smiling kindly at him.

"It's impressive your support for her." Richard stated and hoped that he would wipe the shameful meaning of his last statement with that. "I'm happy for you two. I really am." He stated sincerely.

"Thank you!" That lightened Meredith a little and brought a sincere smile on her face.

"Oh… I almost forgot." Richard said. "Your friend from Med School, Martin…"

Meredith looked confused at Derek, who shrugged at her.

"He is transferring in Seattle to our hospital." Richard added.

"Jim? What?" Meredith looked back and forward at Richard and Derek. "When?"

"He will start on Monday, but I am not sure when he will arrive in Seattle." Richard said. "Didn't he get in touch with you?" He asked her.

"No" Meredith answered as if that was a silly thing to ask.

Richard noticed and gave her a confused look. "Aren't you and Alex friends with him?"

"We are." Meredith answered. "But not such good friends."

"Oh" Richard seemed confused. "I thought I would give you good news."

Derek chuckled, which thing made Meredith and Richard look at him strangely. "As long as he keeps his hands away from my girlfriend, then we can consider it good news."

Meredith giggled and shook her head.

"What?" Richard almost burst shocked at Derek's statement.

"Don't worry! If he won't be able to do it, then I'll help him." Derek chuckled at Richard and leaned to Meredith for a quick kiss.

"I didn't know he is a trouble-maker." Richard almost excused himself.

"We'll take care of him." Meredith smiled at Derek.

The rest of the dinner went by talking about Meredith option to go on general surgery and then the talk moved between Derek and Richard about hospital work.

"I'll go bring some cake." Meredith said when everyone finished with its food.

"Do you need help?" Derek asked her.

Meredith made a resent face and sniffed. "I can slice a cake, Derek!"

Derek grinned at her and returned to his chat with Richard.

Meredith brought the plates with cake at table and sat down too. As they took a bite, everyone stopped for a second from chewing.

"This is … good!" Derek said with his mouth full trying to look honest. "Yeah" Richard agreed in the same manner as Derek.

Meredith spitted out in a napkin and threw it on plate nervous. "It's salty." She frowned and stood up heading back in kitchen.

Derek spitted out the cake from his mouth and followed Meredith in kitchen. She had put a pouted face and crossed her arms against the chest leaning with her stomach against the counter.

Derek came behind her and put his arms around her.

"Leave me alone, Derek!" Meredith elbowed him nervous.

Derek winced because of the pain, but refused to let her go. "Come on, Mer! You shouldn't feel bad for this."

Meredith fussed in his arms trying to make him leave, but Derek tightened his arms around her. He pushed her hair off and exposed her neck. He gave her a kiss and propped his chin on her shoulder. "You didn't destroy the kitchen and this is the most important thing. I am so proud of you!" He chuckled and kissed her neck.

Meredith muffled a giggle, but refused to cheer up. "I'm pathetic."

"You are great, not pathetic." Derek kissed her cheek and pulled back to turn her towards him. He leaned his body against her as his arms surrounded her waist and smiled looking into her eyes. "You are smart, sexy and… sexy." Derek chuckled with a horny smirk. "So don't call my girlfriend pathetic."

Meredith giggled happy to receive such a cuddle from him and put gently her hands on his chest. She stood up on tiptoes and kissed him softly on lips.

Derek kissed her back before he moved to her cheeks and neck and started an attack of kisses making her laugh hard.

Richard didn't leave the table, but he could see very well what was happening in kitchen. He smiled impressed at that scene, but it was still uncomfortable for him. He kissed his throat loud to make himself heard by Meredith and Derek and make them realize that he was still there.

Derek stopped with the kisses as he heard Richard and pulled back from Meredith. As Derek did that, Richard stood up and came over to them. "Don't feel bad about it, Meredith!" He said smiling at her. "At least you tried and that's what matters the most. You will get it well soon."

"Thanks" Meredith giggled more lightened now after Derek's comfort.

"I think I should go now, because it's getting late." Richard stated. "Thank you for inviting me over here!" He said looking at them with a grateful smile. "It means a lot to me."

Meredith smiled at Derek and he kissed her cheek. "We are glad you accepted our invitation." He said to Richard.

They walked Richard to door and as Richard opened the door and shook the hand with Derek, Derek stepped back to let Meredith say her goodbye.

Richard made a hesitant step towards her and they shared a clumsy hug, which made Derek chuckled a little.

"Think about it." Richard whispered to her ear and stuffed a piece of paper in her fist. "Good night!" He said as he pulled back from hug.

"Good night, Richard!" Meredith smiled and together with Derek, watched him driving away.

"It wasn't that bad." Derek smiled at Meredith closing the door.

Meredith nodded smiling but didn't say anything. Her mind was at Richard's last words and the piece of paper, which she was hiding in her fist.

"I am going to clean up the kitchen." Derek said.

"I am coming to help you." Meredith offered following him.

"I can take care of it, don't worry!" Derek smiled and winked as he looked back at her.

Meredith didn't follow him and watched him until he was out of her sight. She didn't insist on going with him, since she had something to think about.

Minutes later the kitchen was shining. Derek smiled satisfied and turned off the lights, being ready to go back to Meredith.

Because he didn't find Meredith downstairs, Derek turned off the lights in the rest of the house and climbed up the stairs. Their bedroom's door was open, so Derek just pushed it a little to make his way inside. As he did that, Derek saw Meredith standing on the other side of the bed with her back turned to door.

"Finally alone!" Derek groaned and took off his sweater. He threw it on a chair and came over to bed to sit down on its edge. "Everything is ok downstairs, so we can retire here until tomorrow." Derek said taking off his shoes.

Having his back turned to Meredith, Derek didn't notice that she hadn't moved from that position since he got there. He threw his shoes off and lay down on bed. As he leaned his back against the headboard, Derek noticed Meredith's posture. She seemed to be staring in blank at the small piece of paper from her hands.

"Meredith" Derek called her worryingly.

Meredith didn't answer in any way. Her hands continued to stay motionless on her lap and her look stayed the same.

Derek shifted to her side of bed and brought the legs over its edge to sit right next to her. "Meredith, what's going on?" Derek put his hand gently on her arm looking at her and then at the piece of paper.

Meredith turned her head slowly and looked at him with the same blank look as earlier. Derek took the piece of paper from her hands without any resistance from Meredith. "It's a number." He said as he read it and looked questioning at her. "A phone number?" He asked her.

Meredith answered with a nod. "My mother's."

"Oh" Derek understood now the reason for her strange behavior. "Is everything alright with her?" Although he suspected that the answer was no, because although Richard would have mentioned during the dinner.

Meredith let out a sighed and looked ahead. "Her birthday is on Saturday and Richard says I should call her." Meredith turned her head to face Derek. As she did that, she met a strange grin on his face. "What's so funny in this, Derek?" Meredith snapped at him.

"You mother's birthday is on Saturday?" He asked her still grinning at her.

"Yes" Meredith answered irritated by his persistent grin. "Why?"

"This Saturday?" Derek asked her.

"Yes Derek! This Saturday!" Meredith ran a hand through her hair nervous. "Now tell me what are you finding so amusing?"

Derek chuckled and shook his head. "Nothing"

"You are lying?" Meredith cut him off immediately.

"I am not." Derek denied, though his amused face was betraying him. Derek stood up and came to kneel in front of Meredith. He put the paper back on her lap and took her knees in his hands. "You should call her, Mer!"

"Why? Why should I call her?" Meredith asked.

"Because no matter what you two are still mother and daughter and because you have to show her that you can be daughter for her." Derek answered. This time his funny face from earlier was replaced with a kind and warm smile. He looked in her eyes and hided a strand from her hair behind the ear. "It's your duty to be her daughter; if she doesn't want to be your mother, then that would be her sin and you should be proud of the efforts you put in your relationship with her."

Meredith's eyes started to tear listening to him. He was right and she knew it, but still it was difficult and painful for her. She took his face in her hands and leaned to him and kissed him softly on lips. "I will" She muttered pulling back from his lips.

Derek smiled at her and stood up to sit down on bed beside her. He put an arm around her and brought her to rest her head on his shoulder.

"So your mother's birthday is on Saturday, huh?" Derek chuckled.

"Derek!" Meredith whined pushing him away from her. "Yes. My mother's birthday is on Saturday, so why do you keep smiling about it. Does this have anything to do with your plan for our weekend?" She asked him suspiciously.

Derek smiled and shook his head. "You are not getting anything from me about our weekend and no, it doesn't have anything to do with our weekend. I am just surprised, that's all."

"You're not just surprised." Meredith continued to stare at him suspiciously.

Derek chucked and kissed her. "What do you say about a bubble bath with me?"

Meredith smiled and shook her head disapproving his way of avoiding the topic about the weekend they would spend together.

"Meredith, I can keep a secret so don't give me this look." Derek chuckled.

"You couldn't keep the secret about your best friend and that was a big secret." Meredith teased him about that time when she made Derek tell her about the reason for Mark's depression.

Derek sniffed and stood up smiling. "You have no chance with this one." He chuckled and winked at her. "I am going to prepare the bathtub."

Meredith crawled in the middle of the bed and tucked her feet under her. "I am not coming."

"Oh so you are threatening me now, huh?" Derek smiled knowingly at her. "It's your loss then." He didn't want to make her believe that he would give up that easy and walked in their bathroom closing the door behind him.

Meredith heard the water and waited for Derek to come out any second. At one moment, the water stopped and Derek was late to come.

Meredith rolled her eyes and put the paper with Ellis's phone number in the drawer of her nightstand. She took off her blouse, pushed down the trousers in the same time with the panties and unhooked her bra. She walked over to bathroom's door. As she opened it, Meredith leaned against the doorframe smiling at Derek, who was already in bathtub. "Do you have room for me?" she asked him, seductively biting her bottom lip.

"I can make." Derek chuckled and sat up straight in his sit. Meredith walked inside and closed the door.

She stepped in bathtub sitting between Derek's legs and leaned her back against his chest.

Derek brought his arms around her as his face sunk in the curve of her neck. "I knew you will cave."

"Shut up, Derek!" Meredith giggled slapping his arm playful. "I am tired and I am not in the mood."

"You are tired." Derek repeated her last statement laughing.

Meredith looked back at him and glared him. "Doing nothing all day can be exhausting, you know."

"Next time you should practice more a cake receipt." Derek chuckled and kissed her cheek.

Meredith gasped offended to hear that from him. "It was an accident. I don't know how that happened."

"I know how that happened." Derek said kissing her neck. "Too much salt."

Meredith giggled and slapped him. "So Jim is moving here."

"Are you scared?" Derek asked her.

"No. You said we'll take care of him."

"And we will." Derek assured her, gently scratching her cheek with his beard.

When the water started to chill, Derek got out of the water and helped Meredith out too, wrapping her in a towel. He scooped her on arms and took her back into their bedroom. Placing her on bed, he unwrapped the towel from around her body.

With lovingly kisses and embraces, they made love before settling to sleep under covers. Derek took her naked body in his arms and spooned her as he sunk his face in the sweet scent of flower of her neck.

"So your mother's birthday is on Saturday, huh?" He muttered sleepy.

"Derek" Meredith laughed. "Tell me what's going on or stop with this!"

Derek stood up a little and leaned to kiss her cheek. "Good night, Mer!"

"You are terrible." Meredith stated laughing.

"I love you, too!" Derek muttered and tightened his arms around her.

8


	55. Where to?

The next day flew by in an alerting rhythm, everybody confronting with a massive car collision. Meredith tried to get something out from Derek about their weekend during the breakfast, but Derek refused to let it out. For the rest of the day, this topic went to bottom and each time they met on hallways or exam rooms, their patients were their focus.

The end of the day found Meredith and Alex collapsed in two chairs in the main lobby.

"Awesome day, but I am full. I can't take more." Alex groaned and let his head fall back over the chair.

Meredith looked whacked too, but she still had the energy to giggle and show a good mood. "I assisted at 4 surgeries, so this was indeed an awesome day." She said very proud of herself smirking at her friend. "What was your number?" She asked him, knowing already that his number of surgeries was lower than hers.

Alex turned her head towards her and without leaving its lazy position sniffed in annoyance.

Meredith grinned prouder.

"But the skin graft was the best surgery from board today." He retorted very proud of assisting Mark in one of his surgeries. Alex had a huge interest in Plastics and Mark's latest mood was perfect for Alex to take advantage of it.

"Well… I sutured a kidney." Meredith didn't want to get to the second place.

Alex raised his head to her grinning "Meredith, that can't beat a skin graft with Sloan." Though Alex was lazier than Meredith during college, he always loved the competition between him and Meredith, each time it showed up.

Meredith opened her mouth to say something, but then she shut it defeated.

"Oh relax! You will have a blessing time once you get home tonight." Alex said. As he said that, he straightened up in his chair. "Speaking of that…" He started. "Where is McDreamy taking you for the weekend?"

Meredith brushed her hair with the fingers and lay more comfortable on her chair, adopting Alex's lazy position from earlier. "I still don't know" She muttered as if she was sleepy. As her head fell to back, her eyes closed and she tucked her arms across the chest.

"Maybe he is taking you to Vegas to get married." Alex stated with a chuckle, already knowing the panic he would cause.

Meredith jerked her head to a side and looked at him frightened. He was way too secretive about their destination and he didn't let any indication about it; not even the smallest insignificant indication.

"No" she muttered and shook her head.

Alex guessed her doubt and made him smirk at her. "But it is possible, isn't it?"

The frown deepened of worry on her forehead. "No" She burst as she jumped back up on her sit and sent Alex a slap over shoulder. "Shut up about it now!"

Alex grinned proud of his success and laughed. "Relax, Mer!" He took her by shoulders and pushed her back to lie on her chair. "You two talked about this and he already knows you want to take things slow."

"Yeah." Meredith looked at him and muttered unconfident.

"Okay, now that we are calm… we should relax and wait for our partners." To convince her to do that, Alex laid back on his chair and closed his eyes. "Come on, Mer! Relax with me!" He hit her hand feeling her staring at him.

Meredith had to admit that she was exhausted and what Alex was doing in that moment looked very tempting.

"A bubble bath…" Alex already started picturing his moment of relaxation. "A bath filled with foam…"

He easily passed the picture to Meredith, who moaned softly imaging her baths with Derek in bubbles, both of them naked, in his arms, with his kisses all over her cheeks and neck. "Mmm… Derek"

Alex gasped and his dream was brutally ended. "Please don't ruin my picture!"

Meredith opened her eyes and looked at him with grimace. Alex smiled and closed his eyes again.

Meredith did the same thing and her mind flew back at Derek and their bathtub. She easily fell back in her trance and in the middle of the main lobby was nobody else but her and Derek and their bathtub.

"Meredith" Alex called as he shoved her arm and brought her back fro, her dream.

"What?" Meredith snapped at him annoyed by his disturbance.

"We are still in a public place so stop! You are too loud."

"What?" Meredith looked at him confused and there looked around her. At that late hour, there weren't too many people around and the few ones that were still there were too tired to pay attention to Meredith's moans.

"Shut up!" Meredith made a mad face at him and returned to her relaxing position.

Alex chuckled and shook his head before he did the same thing as Meredith did.

"Jim called me earlier. He is arriving tomorrow at noon in Seattle." He said.

"Now why do you have to ruin MY picture?" Meredith snapped at him and straightened up in her sit.

"He asked me about housing." He said looking cautiously at her. He still had fresh in his memory Jim's last visit in Seattle and since then Meredith's feelings for him changed a lot.

"He can stay…temporally…" She said emphasizing the word temporally "with you, but on couch. Do NOT give him my room." She told him into a serious, almost threatening voice.

"I won't" Alex assured her. In the same time, he saw Izzie coming towards them. He stood up to greet her and put his arms around her waist as she reached to them. "Hey babe"

"Hey" Izzie smiled cheerful and leaned to him for kiss.

Alex hugged her tighter and deepened the kiss.

Meredith raised an eyebrow at their scene of tenderness and cleared her throat to make them aware of her presence there.

"Sorry" Izzie giggled and pulled back from Alex's arm.

Suddenly, Alex wasn't so important for her. She came and sat down beside Meredith. "Where is Derek taking you this weekend? He and Richard whispered all day about this." Izzie had worked for most of the day with Derek and Richard and since she was a gossips sponge, that topic couldn't pass unnoticed by her.

"I have no idea." Meredith answered.

"She has no idea." Alex confirmed.

"I'm intrigued." Izzie frowned.

"So am I." Meredith stated in annoyance.

"I bet he prepared something very romantic if he is so secretive about it." Izzie smirked suggestively at her. As she did that, she gasped. "Oh my God!" An idea hit her.

"What?" Meredith asked her.

"What if he planned secretly a wedding?" Izzie was amazed by her own idea. "Oh My God" She gasped again giggling. "What if he's taking you to Vegas?"

Meredith froze and slowly her look moved to Alex, who was watching her reaction very amused.

"He is not, so let's drop this subject." He decided to help Meredith and came over to them taking Izzie by her arm. "We will find out in a few hours." He said and made Izzie stand up. "We should go now. We'll talk tomorrow, Mer!"

Meredith jumped up on her feet and grabbed Alex's arm. "I am coming with you."

Alex smiled and took her hand off him. "Relax, Mer! We already talked about this, remember? Now don't forget to call me and tell me where he took you." As he said that, he led Izzie to exit. "Night, Mer!"

Meredith watched them leaving and tried to empty her mind from that presumption. Turning her look away from them, Meredith saw Derek heading towards her, carrying a bright smile on his face. "Ready to go?" He asked her.

"Derek" Meredith looked at him with the same frightened look that Alex and Izzie's presumption brought earlier.

"What's wrong?" Derek noticed her panic right away and got worried.

Meredith opened her mouth and she hardly found the courage to ask him that. "Do you… are we… getting… married this weekend?"

Derek's worried faced turned to shock and then he burst into laugh. He cupped her head and gave her a kiss on forehead. "You have such a cute brain."

"Derek" Meredith whined annoying by his laugh.

"Let's go Meredith! It's late already." Derek smiled and offered her his arm to walk her outside.

Meredith stood motionless looking at him.

"Trust me." He said smiling lovingly at her.

Meredith hesitated for a moment, but she released the hesitation through a sigh and wrapped her hand around his arm. Derek smiled and kissed her before he walked her outside the hospital.

-----------------------

Alex and Izzie's presumptions about the destination that she and Derek would have for the weekend disquieted Meredith deeply. If during the whole day she tried to think about what she would tell her mother; now that became less important.

Derek couldn't take her to Vegas and get married. He had his moments when he pushed her for a bigger commitment, but they talked about this and Derek agreed to take things slower. This was the thought that Meredith hung on not to go insane.

Derek was very firm and she couldn't get anything out from him that night. They got in bed and sleep and after she felt Derek sleeping, Meredith sneaked out of the bed. She needed to know if Derek prepared a suitcase for her or at least his suitcase and maybe like that she would get a clue about their trip. Unfortunately, Meredith found her clothes untouched. She peeked in Derek's closet and there she found everything at his place, untouched, same as hers. Meredith gave up into a final and returned defeated. She sneaked back in bed and settled under covers facing Derek. She watched him sleeping with a content smile on his face. All she wished for in that moment was to be inside his brain and dream.

Meredith found another comforting thought. Maybe they were going indeed to Vegas but only to gamble, have fun and sex. Meredith encouraged herself with that and nodded as she closed her eyes. After all, there were just a few hours until she would find out.


	56. Here

Meredith started to stir as she was about to wake up. Opening her eyes slowly, her blurry vision saw Derek sleeping in the same position as she saw him before falling asleep. He was holding his arm around her, lying on his stomach and breathing against her face. Meredith smiled. She loved the mornings when she woke up and found him there like that. She loved to have him close to her and feel the warmth of his body.

She let out a wince as her eyes started adjusting to the sun light that had invaded their room. The bright sun from outside made her jump up on her sit and check the clock.

"Oh My God!!!" She shouted and made a jump out of bed.

Derek groaned at the unpleasant wake up call and rolled on his back.

"Derek, you have to wake up!" Meredith shouted with panic at him from the edge of her bedside.

Derek rubbed his face and alerted by the panic from her shouts, sat up to see what was wrong.

"Derek, it's passed 9:30!" Meredith shouted. She felt the urge of doing something, but she was frustrated because she didn't know what exactly she was supposed to do next.

"So?" Derek asked her frowning in pain. "We can sleep as much as we want to."

Meredith shot him a glare and propped her hands on hips. "Can you at least tell me at what hour are we boarding and what exactly did you pack for our weekend?"

Derek listened to her stunned. It took him a moment to process her question and then burst into laugh. He was laughing so hard that he had to hold his chest in the need of air.

"Derek" Meredith snapped at him furious.

Derek shook his head laughing and leaned over the bed to reach to her. He grabbed her by hand and pulled her down to him. As she was down in bed, Derek moved on top of her. "We are boarding right in this moment."

"What?" Meredith asked him shocked.

Derek sunk his face in the curve of her neck and nuzzled through her hair. "We are boarding, right now." He repeated and started tracing kisses along her neck.

"Derek, I am serious." Meredith replied nervous and slapped his back to make him move off her.

Derek chuckled and looked at her smiling. He kissed her lips and then found her beautiful eyes again. "So am I."

Meredith looked at him very confused. "You know you have to tell me at one point where are we going."

"I already told you." Derek replied laughing.

"Derek" Meredith whined.

Derek continued to smile brightly at her. He leaned down to her and kissed her again. "We are boarding now for a journey of sex."

Meredith smiled but kept her confused look in eyes.

Derek decided he had teased her enough with that. "We are staying home."

Meredith looked at him in disbelief. Was he serious? She didn't dare to say anything and just waited for him to become serious.

Derek was as serious as he could. He smiled lovingly at her confusion and lay down beside her. Lying on a side, he put an arm around her and made her come closer to him. His leg draped hers and he brushed away the hair from her face smiling into her eyes. "This is where we are going to spend the next 48 hours."

"Here?" Meredith asked him with a mixture of amusement and disappointment.

"Here" Derek replied smiling and leaned to catch her lips between his.

Meredith smiled at him. "Why?"

"Because ever since we bought this house, we didn't have the chance to spend too much time in it… being just the two of us." Derek answered.

Meredith shook her head amazed by his crazy idea. She would have loved though an outdoor, somewhere sunny maybe, but spending a whole weekend with him was enough for her. She flipped him on his back and shifted on his top. Running her hands through his messy hair, she leaned to him and kissed his softly on lips. He had kissed her already, but she was already missing the taste of his lips. "You are amazing." She confessed looking into his eyes.

"Finally! You admitted." He chuckled. Holding her hair to back, he flipped her back on bed and now he was the one on top of her. "And you couldn't help it and tried to find out more about our destination, huh?" Derek laughed referring at Meredith's mention about their unpacked luggage.

Meredith rolled her eyes smiling. "It was only your fault."

Derek chuckled and pressed his lips over hers. "But you like our destination, don't you?" He asked her wishing to be sure of that, though the glitter of happiness from her eyes was already an answer.

"I think I do." She answered jokingly. "It would be interesting to laze a whole weekend at home with you."

Derek took a would-be offended look. "Who said about laziness? We have some things to take care if this weekend."

"We do?" Meredith asked him laughing.

Derek came up in the sit up position and winked as he took off his t-shirt. "We do"

"Let's start it then." Meredith copied his action and took off her night blouse.

Derek took himself a moment to contemplate the beauty of her bare chest before he lay down on top of her, tracing kisses from her face to her neck and lower to her shoulders.

Meredith parted her legs wide and welcomed him over her hanging her arms around his neck.

His palm easily found the roundness of her breast and cupping it inside, he gently pressed a squeeze to feel its fullness. Derek lowered his mouth to her chest and gently took her nipple between his lips. He sucked it and opened the mouth to take it entirely.

Meredith arched her back to him and moaned out of pleasure while her hands roamed through his hair.

His kisses and suctions lingered over her breast pleasuring his need to feel the taste that he could never have enough before he moved lower and his tongue slipped inside her navel and dropped sloppy kisses all around it.

It took his less than a second to untie her trousers and slide his fingers beneath their hemline to push them down. Meredith lifted her hips to ease his action.

Meredith stood up as he dragged her trousers off her legs and knelt in front of him. Leaning her body against his, her lips crashed into his while her hands started pushing down his trousers. Derek took her in his arms and deepened the kiss, making it more passionate. His hands started roaming like crazy in the need of feeling more of her skin under their touch until they reached down to her silky panties and cupped her but firmly and strong with both hands.

Meredith pulled her mouth back for some air and hung on his neck, she put her head down on his shoulder and gently bitted from its skin muffling her moans.

Derek took her face in his hands and chuckled. "Do you want more of this?"

"Mhmm" She replied grinning.

'Then let me give you more." He grinned back and pushed her by shoulders to fall on her back. He lay down on her leaving the weight of his body pressing on it and started tracing kisses again from her face to her bottom body. He kisses the silk material of her panties and slowly his fingers started pushing them down. As he threw them away, she parted her legs and welcomed his again between her thighs.

Derek scanned her amazed and as he made eye-contact with her, he came back to cover her with her body again. He propped his forearm to a side of her and grabbed her hip with his other hand. Slowly he made his way inside of her and as he took the control over her hip's moves, he picked up the thrusts.

Meredith's nails brutally stubbed his skin as his movements started building up the orgasm inside of her.

Derek winced in pain at her brutal action, but that made him want her more. He sped up the thrusts as he took her head between his hands and soon felt his own pleasure.

As they came together, Derek's face sunk into the curve of her neck breathlessly while Meredith closed her eyes and tried to resume her breath.

Both of them groaned exhausted when they heard Derek's phone ringing. "This… we have to talk… about this." Derek stated as he slipped out of her. "No phone calls this weekend." He said giving her one last kiss before reaching over to take his phone from the nightstand.

"Then… leave it." Meredith whined still panting and slapped his arm to make him drop the phone.

Derek gave her a kiss on cheek and took his phone. "I will take this one and you can only call your mother today,

Meredith sniffed annoyed and earned another kiss from Derek before he flipped it open. "Hi mom!"


	57. Hi mom

From the second she heard him saying "Hi mom!", her breath stopped. She knew he was talking with his mother from time to time, but she had never assisted to any of them. Therefore, she had almost forgotten that Derek had a mother. He never told her too many things about her, so for the first time she started questioning herself what kind of person his mother was.

Derek seemed to have read her thoughts, so he winked and leaned down to her for a kiss.

"Am I interrupting something?" his mother asked laughing hearing her son's heavy breath.

Derek chuckled. "No"

"Not anymore, I assume." Mrs. Shepherd replied in the same amused tone.

Derek laughed and shook his head. "Drop it, mom!" He came up in his sit and leaned his back against the headboard.

In the meantime, not wishing to assist at his talk with Mrs. Shepherd, Meredith slowly slid out of bed. "I'll go shower." She mouthed back at him.

Derek answered her with a wink and a nod before resuming his talk with his mother.

"Happy birthday, son!" Mrs. Shepherd wished her son, less amused but with the same warm and kind voice.

"Thank you, mom!" Derek smiled brightly. This was his reason for choosing this weekend to spend it alone with Meredith.

"How are you going to spend the day?" She asked him.

"With Meredith, of course." He answered.

Mrs. Shepherd paused for a second. "And…?" She asked waiting for more details. "What are you going to do? Where are you going to spend it? You told me you want a weekend off with her."

Derek rolled his eyes amused. "At home, mom."

"So you didn't change your mind about it." Mrs. Shepherd replied a little disappointed.

"No, mom. I didn't change my mind."

"You are just like your father, Derek!" She said in reproach. "You don't know how to have a good time."

"But I am having a good time, mother." Derek jumped in defense. "And am going to have a good time."

"Having sex is fun, but having sex a whole weekend is sick, Derek."

Derek groaned annoyed at his mother's lecture.

"Stop acting hurt, Derek! You know I am right." Mrs. Shepherd guessed his reaction from his groan. "If you had come in Manhattan with Meredith, I would have thrown a birthday party for you and we would have met your girlfriend."

"That's exactly what I chose to lock us in house this weekend." Derek chuckled.

"You might not miss our party, but I can bet that you miss my cake." Mrs. Shepherd chuckled. Derek gulped remembering his favorite dessert, chocolate cake flavored with rum. "I made one for you and your sisters can't wait to devour it."

"Ok" Derek groaned at his mother's tease.

"Now seriously speaking, Derek… we miss you."

"I miss you too." Derek smiled a shade of regret wash over his cheerful look. "I'll try to make you a visit as soon as I find some time." As he said that, he could hear his mother sighing. "I am sorry!"

"It's ok… I understand." Mrs. Shepherd replied disappointed but with the same warm voice. "You told me Meredith doesn't cook… then what cake will you have for your birthday."

Derek groaned and burst into laugh. "Mom!!"

"What? You can't resist without cake for your birthday, so I am curious."

Derek paused for a moment making sure that the shower was on. "Meredith doesn't know that it's my birthday today."

His mother paused for a moment as well trying to process his last words. "What?"

Derek groaned and threw his head to back hitting the headboard. "It's not a tragedy, mom! I never told her so she can't know."

"Why in the world you didn't tell her? Do you at least now when is her birthday?" She asked him.

"I do know when her birthday is, but this is only an insignificant detail."

"I really hope that your relationship is not based on sex only. You have to get to know each other outside the sheets too." Mrs. Shepherd lectured him.

"And we do know each other, mom!" Derek said in defense.

"Great, because I am expecting a grandchild from you!"

Derek rolled his eyes annoyed again. That was already a common old topic for them. "You have dozens of grandchildren already. Why don't you ask one of your daughters to produce one more?"

"Derek!" Mrs. Shepherd snapped at him laughing. "They propagate like rabbits anyway! Now I am talking about a grandchild from my son. A grandchild which will wear our name."

"You will get one, mom. I promise!" Derek sighed already exhausted.

"She is not pregnant, is she?" She asked him rather sarcastic than serious.

Derek shook his head in exasperation. "She is not."

"Then you can't promise me."

"Mom!" Derek exclaimed nervous.

"I know." Mrs. Shepherd replied very calm. "I am annoying."

Derek chuckled. "Then why are you continuing?"

"Because I like to hear you sighing annoyed." She stated between giggles. "I miss you, Derek!"

"I miss you too, mom!" Derek answered very sincere. "Did you like the photos?"

"I did. That place is amazing and I love how you decorated the house." She answered. "I also liked Meredith. She looks like a pretty girl."

"She is…wonderful, mom." Derek stated very proud and his eyes fell over the bathrooms door, trying to picture Meredith through it.

"So you are over Addison." She said.

"Mom!" Derek whined anticipating another lecture about his love life.

"No, Derek" Mrs. Shepherd cut him off very fast. "She is my best friend's daughter, but I can't excuse her actions. You are an honest boy and you deserve better."

"Thank you!" Derek smiled grateful for his mother's support. "Tell the girls not to try calling me because I am going to disconnect the phone until Monday morning."

"They won't be happy, but they will still love you."

"I know" Derek chuckled.

"Can I come visit you?" She asked him hopeful.

"Not yet… Please!"

"So why is the relationship between Meredith and her mother so cold?" She asked him curious. "Meredith can't have mother issues with everyone."

Derek chuckled and shook his head again. "Maybe I will write you a book about this after we find out more about what's going on in her mother's head. Now let's not start the gossips."

"Derek, I hope you didn't describe me as a monster in front of me!"

Derek smiled at his mother's serious, almost threatening tone. "No, I didn't!" Actually, he hadn't told almost anything to Meredith about his mother, besides her name.

"I should have adopted Mark." She stated more for herself.

"What?" Derek asked confused.

"You told he is going to become daddy."

Derek chuckled. "You would be still bugging me even if he was your adopted son." He replied knowingly.

"I love you, Derek! Take good care of you and come see as soon as you can!"

"I love you too, mom! I will do my best!" Derek stated. With that, the line went dead. Derek flipped the phone shut and stared at it for a few moments thinking at his mother and his family. He was missing them more than he wanted to admit.

Something caught his attention and made him broke his daze. It was silence. The water had stopped, but there was still no sound coming from bathroom.

Derek disconnected his phone and put it back on his nightstand. He got out of bed and went straight to bathroom. At first, he sneaked his head inside to check on Meredith.

Derek found her sitting on the toilet seat wrapped in a big white towel, staring ahead in blank as if she was contemplating on something.

"Mer?" He called her name softly without scaring her.

Meredith startled a little and looked at him. "Hey"

"Is everything ok?" He asked.

"Yeah"

"Then why are you sitting here?" Derek asked referring at the place she chose to stay and meditate.

Meredith sighed. "I am trying to build up a potential conversation with mother." She looked up at him and met his funny look. She sniffed and smiled at him. "What do you say about… 'Hi mom! Happy birthday! How is Africa?' she would then say 'Everything is fine, Meredith. Why did you call me?' and then I will answer. 'Richard asked me to do it. I am glad you are fine, I am fine too, so it was… nice talking to you.' Then I hang up." Meredith continued to look at Derek waiting for an answer. "So?"

Derek smiled and leaned down to her. He gave her a kiss and headed to shower cabin while he stated… "You can better than this, Mer!" He got in shower and closed its sliding door.

Meredith sighed again, this time disappointed. "You can better than this." She muttered annoying imitating Derek. "I am not that good." She sighed resigned and decided to empty her mind of that thought. She looked in shower's direction and saw Derek's distortion body.

She stood up and walked over to it. She opened the sliding door and leaned against its frame watching Derek washing himself. "Derek?"

Derek was shampooing his hair in that moment. He wiped the foam from his eyes and looked at Meredith questioning.

"How did you know it was your mother on phone?" She asked curious.

"What?" He retorted in the same confused manner as her.

"You didn't even look at its id, but you still answered with 'Hi mom'"

"I knew she would call me this morning." Derek continued his bath.

Meredith watched him washing his hair and removing the shampoo from it. "Derek?"

"Mmm?" He answered without interrupting his activity this time.

"What kind of person is your mother?" She asked him.

Derek washed his face and made sure that no shampoo had left in his hair and soup on his body. He turned off the water and grabbed a towel from the towel railing. "She is… not Ellis." He answered smiling. With that answer, he let her know that his mother was… mother.

Derek stepped outside the shower and gave a wet kiss on her cheek. "Go call your mother now"

Meredith nodded and reluctantly turned on her heels and walked back in bedroom.

When Derek came out of bathroom, he found Meredith sitting at the edge of bed with her phone in hands and staring at it. He walked to her and kneeled in front of her. "If she tells you anything nasty, then you should be proud of yourself. You honored your role as daughter towards her." He encouraged her looking straight in her eyes.

Meredith smiled and nodded. She wasn't very confident yet.

Derek winked and stood up. "You can only call your mother!" he warned her. "No phone calls to Alex."

Meredith looked back at him smiling and watching him leaving and shutting the door after him.

Meredith let out another sighed; she took the piece of paper with Ellis's phone number and dialed it.

After four rings, Meredith was ready to hang up. Right before the fourth ring could end, she heard a female voice. It wasn't difficult for Meredith to recognize her mother's voice.

"Hello!" Ellis answered with a hush voice, which made Meredith believe that she was hurrying somewhere. "Who's there?" Ellis repeated shouting louder this time considering that the signal was low.

"Hi…uh…" Meredith cleared her throat before resuming her greeting. "Hi mom!" she said still with a gruff voice.

Ellis seemed to have stopped from her track, because her panting became weaker and Meredith could hear her breathing better. "Meredith?" She asked confused.

Meredith sighed and decided to do what she had to do. "Yes, mother!" She replied with a loud and clear voice. "I'm… Meredith."

"Oh…" Ellis sounded very surprised and same as Meredith, she wasn't sure of what she should say next. "Hello, Meredith!"

Meredith sighed relieved as she heard her mother being nervous on phone. That gave her more courage. Probably this was the first and only time when Meredith felt stronger than Ellis was. "I ... I called to wish you 'Happy Birthday'"

Ellis's reply was a few seconds late. "Thank you, Meredith!" She finally retorted.

Now Meredith found herself in trouble again. What was she supposed to say next? They never chatted about anything.

Ellis seemed to have had the same problem as hers, so the next seconds, or minutes, depending on how each of them felt them, became very awkward and uncomfortable.

"How's everything in Seattle?" Ellis finally found a way out from awkwardness.

"Everything is alright here." Meredith answered simply.

"Good. That's good!" Ellis retorted. "At hospital… everything good, right?"

"Yes. Everything goes well at work."

"Yeah… Richard told me." Ellis said.

"So… how is Africa?" Meredith found probably the only question valid for their weird chat.

"There is a lot of work and then there is the heat too, but everything is good here." Ellis answered.

"Are you… alright?" Meredith asked her.

"Yes. I am. You?"

"I am good too." Meredith replied.

"Good… I am glad to hear that." Ellis stated.

Meredith nodded and the awkwardness fell over their talk again. "Listen… I have to go now." Meredith decided to end up the moment.

"Sure."

"Have… a great birthday." Meredith wished.

"Thank you!"

"I have to hang up now."

"Meredith… wait." Ellis stopped her.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for calling me!" Ellis stated sincerely.

"Sure… you're welcome." Meredith dared to smile slightly. That was something that she rarely did in the presence of her mother, although it was only a verbal meeting. "Bye now!"

"Goodbye Meredith!"

Meredith hung up the phone and sighed. "That was … easy." She said to herself.

6


	58. In handcuffs?

Coming downstairs, Meredith was greeted by a sweet smell of something delicious. Her talk with her mother went unexpectedly were and this cheered her up a little bit more than she already was and made her see the day brighter, although it was already a very bright day. She sprinted to kitchen and stopped hanging on doorframe as she reached there.

Derek was already at stove and the sweet smell that charmed her was coming from his breakfast. He had heard her sprint and her arrival, so he turned around to face her. "Is she dead?" He asked her amused not knowing how to interpret her glowing smile.

"No" Meredith laughed and made her way inside. "What are you doing?" She asked wrapping her arms around him in a way that she never did before. She propped her chin on his shoulder to look over it in his waffle iron. "Waffles!" She squealed excited at its content.

"Yeah, waffles!" Derek imitated her and pulled her away from him. "But you won't get any until you don't tell me how the conversation with your mother was." Derek stated grinning and pushed her gently to lean against the counter.

Meredith giggled and propping on arms, she jumped up on counter. "It was… weird, but… good."

"So she is not dead." Derek concluded laughing.

Meredith laughed and had an attempt to hit him with her leg, but Derek pulled away in time. "She is not dead." Meredith giggled. "She was… nice and I was nice so it was…strangely nice."

"You were done fast." Derek stated.

Meredith laughed and rolled her eyes as she started gesticulating with her hand. "Yeah, mom was very communicative and she was up for a chat and gossips from Seattle Grace, but I had to cut her off because I was starving."

Derek laughed and shook her head. "You are so funny" He grinned sarcastic.

"I know" Meredith copied the tone of his voice.

Derek turned the waffles again before going to Meredith. He came between her legs and wrapped his arms around her waist while her legs tied around his waist. "I am proud of you." He said, his lips looking for hers.

"You are?" She asked helping their lips met sooner.

"I am." He said and slowly, started brushing his lips over hers until she parted them and gave him access for a long loving kiss.

Meredith took his face between her hands and pulled back from kiss. "Then can I have a waffle?"

Derek chuckled; with firm hands picked her up and carried her like that to table. He leaned down to let her fall on a chair. Meredith released his waist, but before letting his face off her hands, she stole another quick kiss. Neither Derek was quite ready to let go the sweetness of her lips, so he kneeled between her legs and with the hands propped on her waist, reached up to her lips again.

"This is delicious too, but I think I want some food now." Meredith giggled gently wiping his lips with her thumb.

Derek took her head in his hands, pushing the hair to back and stood to lean to her and kiss her one last time.

"Something…. is burning." Meredith sniffed and pushed Derek away.

As they looked back at stove, they saw a black smoke coming out of Derek's waffles iron. "Shit!" He exclaimed and hurried to turn off the gases and take it in sink.

Meredith watched him cracking into laugh. At first, Derek didn't pay attention to her amusement, but after he disposed the waffles iron in sink and finally breathed, he saw how much Meredith was having. "That was only your fault." He said. He frowned at her look, but his voice wasn't angry.

"What?" Meredith burst laughing. "I didn't even touch it." She replied in defense. "You have to admit that nobody is that perfect in kitchen, except for the times when they have sex in there." She giggled at her naughty remark making Derek chuckle as well. "So from now on stop mocking me each time you find me in kitchen because it's obvious that you can burn down the kitchen as much as I can."

Derek sniffed pretending offended. "Let's eat ok?"

Meredith giggled and made herself comfortable at table.

After breakfast, Meredith stayed with Derek and kitchen and washed their dishes while Derek scrubbed the soot from his waffles iron.

"So what are we going to do today?" Meredith asked as she finished the last plate. She took a rag and leaned her back against the sink while wiping her hands.

"We'll find something to do, don't worry." Derek replied. He was also ready with his part of cleaning, so he put the pan aside and came leaning against the sink beside Meredith.

Meredith didn't like too much what she heard. "Do you mean that we are going to stay home the whole weekend, but you don't have a plan for it?"

Derek looked at her confused. "Didn't you say you like the idea?"

"I did and I do, but … Derek, we are going to stay home the whole weekend and I can't see too many things to do in all this time… except for sex, of course."

Derek came in front of her and sneaked both arms around her waist. "And don't you like this plan?" He asked her hovering seductively over her lips.

"I do" Meredith giggled as his breath against her lips started sending her shivers.

"So?" Derek muttered an inch away from her lips.

Meredith crashed her lips into his and taking his head in her hands, deepened the kiss. Derek moaned in pleasure as her fingers started brushing his hair. "See?" He muttered "I have a plan."

Hung on his neck, Meredith smiled wide. "I like this part of your plan."

Derek chuckled and gave her a soft kiss. "And we could also try the pool or the Jacuzzi."

"The Jacuzzi part I think I like the most." Meredith stated.

Derek picked her up and placed her on the edge of sink before he brought her legs around his waist and stuck his body on hers. "Sex and Jacuzzi in the same time I think it sounds better."

Meredith laughed continuing to play in his hair. "It sounds better and hotter."

"I am glad you are here with me today." Derek stated looking lovingly in her eyes. To have her there with him like that, lovingly and cheerful for the simple reason of being with him was the best birthday present.

"Where else would I want to be?" She replied softly returning him the kiss. His amazement faded away after Meredith gasped remembering something and told him her new idea. "There is a surgery performing today and I would really want to watch it. Dr. Burke will do it. Why don't we go and see it?"

Derek gulped and looked at her worried. "Meredith, didn't we just decide that we have a good plan of spending the weekend at home?"

"We did, but we can also add more to your plan. We wouldn't go there to work. We would be just viewers." She said trying to sound convincing.

Derek shook his head disappointed. "We could go out to a cinema or theatre, but not to hospital, Meredith."

Meredith could tell from the tone of his voice, which now was louder and angrier, that her idea disturbed him profoundly. She wasn't sure why he chose their own house as destination for their weekend, but she saw how important it was for him. "I am sorry." She muttered guilty.

Derek knew that her apologizes were sincere and he felt guilty for his reaction. "I am sorry too!" He retorted. "I just… want you for myself only this weekend."

Meredith smiled touched at the emotions that his words were sending. "But you still can't hold me locked in here. If we need to get out, then we will." She warned him less serious than her words were.

That brought a weird smile on Derek's face, a smile, which soon turned into a grin. "Ok" He agreed at her warning and pulled back from her.

"Where are you going?" she asked confused as she watched him leaving the kitchen.

"I'll be right back." He shouted and the sound of his footsteps headed somewhere in other room.

Meredith jumped from the sink's edge and took a rag to clean up the table.

Shortly, Derek came back and Meredith saw the weird smile on his face again. She also saw him hiding something in his fist. From what she could see, it was something silver, which glimmered in the sunlight.

"Derek?" Meredith smiled at him curious and suspicious in the same time.

Derek didn't stop from smiling and walked over to her. He stopped right in front of her, inches away.

"Derek" Meredith didn't let his fist out of her sight for a second since she noticed it. She tried to take it in her hands, but Derek hided it to back. "What's that, Derek and why are you smiling like that?" She asked him already irritated by his mysterious behavior.

"It's a present." He answered simply. Meredith heard a sound of metals coming from behind him and as he stated "I don't want you to think that I am a boring guy." He brought his hand in front letting see hung on his finger a pair of handcuffs. "So I brought something entertaining."

Meredith burst into laugh staring at his handcuffs totally surprised by his idea. "Where did you get this from?" she asked him.

"I told you I received them as present." Derek answered.

Meredith looked at him and lifted an eyebrow suggestively smiling at him. "From that ex-girlfriend of yours Addison?"

Derek answered with a sarcastic smiled and leaned to her to give her a kiss. "No" He answered right against her lips. "It doesn't matter who gave them to me, what matters the most is how much fun we are going to have with them." His eyebrows made suggestively dirty movements.

Meredith giggled letting her hands and body lean against his chest. She lifted on tiptoes and kissed him softly on lips. "Are you trying to keep me hostage in here?" she asked jokingly.

"Wouldn't that be fun?" Derek chuckled.

"Maybe…" Meredith replied seductively breathing against his lips. "… if it's going to be sexy too."

Derek sneaked an arm around her waist to have her body closer to him. His lips crashed into hers and kissed her passionate.

Meredith jumped scared as she felt her right wrist tied by the cold metal bracelet. She pulled back a little looking amused at her new jewelry while Derek tied the other side of the handcuffs at his left wrist. "I hope you have the key." Meredith said laughing.

Derek smiled proud as he put his hand in his pants pocket and took out a small silver key. "Don't worry! We won't have to use barbarian methods to take them off."

Meredith wrapped her arms around his neck and jumping, her legs wrapped his waist. To catch her with one hand, Derek dropped the key down and the metal object made a soft clink hitting the floor.

With their tied wrists on Derek's chest, Meredith hung on his neck firmly while Derek brought her over the table without caring about the direction that he had sent the key to by pushing it with his steps. Derek put Meredith down on table and already heated by her hot kisses all over his face, he felt the grip of his pants and the desire of having her.

"Shouldn't we… go… some place else?" Meredith asked in the short seconds that Derek released her lips.

Panting heavily, Derek wasn't in the condition and the mood to comply to her suggestion. Slowly they started falling down on table, with Meredith lying underneath Derek. The hard table and the uncomfortable position of their tied hands, Meredith started whining between moans.

"What's wrong?" Derek stopped and looked at her worryingly after he had noticed her displeasure.

"Let's go on couch, Derek." Meredith whined trying to rub her waist to show him the uncomfortable position she was on.

"But you like it on table." Derek chuckled.

"I do" Meredith replied laughing "but I like it free." She said lifting her tied wrist.

"Damn!" Derek cursed under breath as he stood up and helped Meredith up as well. He looked around him on floor after the key, but the key was nowhere to be seen. The key was nowhere, but the grip from his pants was still there. Thinking of a quick solution, Derek put his arm around her small waist and picked her up. Meredith got his message immediately and hung back on him letting him move her somewhere more comfortable.

Stumbling a little, Derek brought her in living room and slipped her down on couch. "Derek, I think you hurried with these." Meredith stated showing him the handcuffs from their wrists.

"I know." Derek winced at his own stupidity. "But I couldn't see the key and right now I am not in the condition of finding it."

"So we are going to have sex dressed." Meredith concluded with a glare.

Derek looked at her guilty, but in that moment, he didn't know what else to do. "We can still get rid off the clothes we need to have sex." He smiled at her and unbuckled his pants belt. Meredith giggled and because Derek was doing it with one hand, she helped him push them down faster. Then it was Derek's turn to help Meredith untie her trousers and push them down her legs together with her lacy panties. As he made his way up to her again, his hand traveled lengthwise her leg and stopped between her inner thighs. Meredith relaxed as his hand arrived to its finale destination and moaned of pleasure. Derek laid down beside her on couch to keep their tied hands out from an uncomfortable position and pain. His face sunk in the curve of her neck, nuzzling through her hair until it reached to the soft skin on her neck. He kissed on different spots of its length and then upper behind her ear, while his hand squeezed the flash of her thighs temptingly seducing and turning her on.

Her hand started playing with his hair from the second his lips touched her neck and she closed her legs to grip his hand between them. She closed her eyes tight moaning of pleasure as his fingers tried to make their way to her wet centre. Meredith parted them a little and felt her breath accelerating when his thumb started rubbing against her clit. She moaned louder of pleasure and her fingers clutched in his hair causing him a groan of pleasure and pain.

Derek didn't hold his lips away from her neck and cheek for a single second and gently nipped her bottom lip as his finger parted her folds and thrust inside of her. He felt her body tensing and her hips arching to him. "Do you like this?" He asked her seductively speaking against her lips and thrusting his finger inside of her.

"Mhm" Meredith moaned panting still keeping her eyes closed. She turned her face to him and opened the eyes smiling at him. Meredith lifted her head a little from couch to reach to his lips. She caught them and kissed them for a second before falling back on couch.

Derek thrust one more finger inside of her and his thrusts started becoming faster and deeper. He watched pleased the pleasure from her face and continued to do it until Meredith closed her eyes again tight and her muscles tightened around his fingers. "Oh yes" She moaned loudly to his ear while her fingers brutally slipped from his hair. Derek continued to thrust his fingers in the same rhythm until he felt her body relaxing again and his fingers released from the grip of her muscles.

Derek took out his fingers from her wetness and cleaned them over lips. He licked her lips and forced them parting as he thrust his tongue inside her mouth. Panting but stilled turned on, Meredith welcomed his tongue and answered to his kiss with the same passion of his kiss, both of them tasting and cleaning the taste of her juice.

His now clean fingers sneaked under her blouse and easily found her breast. He cupped it with his hand and squeezed it playing with its softness and its erected nipple. Derek pushed her blouse upper her body until he exposed her chest. He left her breathless mouth and his lips immediately met the taste of breast. He hovered and kissed it softly before sucking it gently.

Her hand returned to his hair and started brushing it tenderly and slowly. His hand found her leg again and this time, he grabbed it and brought it on his waist. Derek stood up a little and with her help, he lifted her hip to ease his way inside of her. Then, he laid down on her and slowly started thrusting her both of them enjoying each second of pleasure of being two as one. Derek defined the line of her neck before propping his forearm beside her head and sped up the thrust. "Oh yeahh…" He groaned prolonged as he felt her warm muscles milking him hard member.

"Go faster" She urged him moaning of pleasure and her hand grabbed the flash of his waist in the need of him to answer her request faster.

The heat of pleasure was already firing inside his all body, so he didn't hesitated answering her plead. He sped up the thrust and went faster and deeper until their body tensed and her muscles gripped him stronger. Derek slowed down the thrusts as the orgasm was building inside of their bodies and let Meredith brought him to climax by milking him with her wet hot walls. With a groan and holding her head with his hand, Derek exploded and his hot seed spilled inside of her.

Panting, they finally opened their eyes and smiled at each other. Derek slipped out of her and lay down to rest on her shoulder. With their tied hands beside them, Derek rested on her holding his free hand over her damp abdomen.

As she recovered her breath and senses, Meredith rubbed her forehead against his forehead and brought his arm upper over her chest. Snuggling like that underneath his body, Meredith kissed him on forehead. "That was amazing… uncomfortable, but amazing." Derek looked up at her and frowned childish. Meredith giggled and leaned to him to kiss his lips.

"I don't think I like it in handcuffs anymore." He stated with a chuckle.

"I do." Meredith laughed. "…but using them differently."

Derek looked up at her and laughed as well. "Some other time, ok?"

"Ok" Meredith laughed and lowered her head for another kiss.

This was probably the first time that Derek was sitting in Meredith's arms. Neither of them seemed disturbed by the new positions. Contrariwise, they seemed like enjoying it.

Groping with his hand to back, Derek found the blanket and brought it over their half-naked bodies. They closed their eyes and slowly drifted to sleep, though they weren't that sleepy, but the physical exhaustion made them need a moment of rest.

About half an hour later, Meredith woke up. She opened her eyes, slowly adjusting at strong sunlight, and looked down at Derek, who was still sleeping.

Derek wasn't in a deep sleep either so feeling Meredith's breath on his face, he opened the eyes to met her smile. "Hey" His voice sounded throaty.

"Hey." Meredith replied with a softer voice. "We need to get up." She said. "My right side is numb."

"Yeah… mine is numb too." He said wincing as he started to stand up.

Derek threw the blanket away from them and bent down to bring their clothes up on couch. Meredith adjusted her blouse down her body with Derek's help and then, helping each other, they put the rest of clothes on.

"Let's look for the key!" Derek said and helped Meredith stand up.

They walked hand in hand to kitchen and started looking for their key on floor. On the white floor, the key or any other object of different color than white would have been easily found. This time, none of them could see anything on it.

"I wonder where it is." Derek muttered.

"Maybe you pushed it under cabinet or something like that." Meredith said.

They kneeled and started looking around all the kitchen furniture. "Derek!" Meredith whined with despair.

"Calm down, Mer!" Derek spoke calmly trying to hide his nervousness. "It has to be somewhere around here." He said. "Nobody else but us was here and it's not like… a rat or… something like that came and stole the key." Derek almost burst into laugh at his own idea.

Meredith didn't found his joke as funny as he did. Instantly, she jumped up on feet forcing Derek to stand up too, and jumped on a chair.

"Mer!" Derek laughed when he saw the fright from her face. "We don't have rat, Meredith!"

"Yeah? And then where is the key, Derek?" Meredith shouted nervous and refused to come down as Derek's hand was trying to do.

"Meredith, I can assure you that we don't have rats here." Derek laughed.

"Then where is the key, Derek?" Meredith asked nervous.

"Come down and help me find it." Derek said and pulled his left hand to make her come down.

Meredith pulled her hand back and shook her head refusing to do it. "I am afraid of rats, mice and other creeping animals."

Derek burst into laugh. "Meredith, those are rodents animals not creeping animals."

"Rodent, creeping I don't care, Derek as long as it's a furless animal." Meredith replied.

Derek groaned and shook his head. "Meredith, don't be a child. Come down and help me find the key."

"No!" Meredith refused firmly.

Derek didn't try any other convincing word and with his free hand, he took her in arms and put her down. Then, again without any comment, he pulled her after him to check the drawers. He quickly found a flashlight and flicked it repetitively in Meredith's eyes.

Meredith slapped his hand nervous and refused to see the fun from that moment. "Meredith, I need to pee and our wrists don't look so good, so stop acting like a child." Derek pointed the flashlight to their red swollen wrists.

"Fine, but find it fast and then check for the rats." Meredith gave up reluctantly.

Derek rolled his eyes amused, but regretting in the same time for mentioning the word 'rats' in front of Meredith.

Derek kneeled down and checked the surroundings. Soon he saw something under cabinet sparkling. "I found it." Derek said and turned off the flashlight. He stood up and dragged Meredith, who was still with her eyes wide open after rats, after him.

Derek released her wrist first and then his. "I'll put these somewhere safe." Derek chuckled and folded the handcuffs in two. Rubbing her red wrist, Meredith nodded approving his proposal.

"And you also have to check if we have rats in here." Meredith said commanding.

Derek sighed already bored with that topic. "Meredith, I found the key so you can calm down now and breathe."

"Derek, if I'll ever see a cockroach or bug of any kind, a rat or a rodent of any kind, then I will pack my things and move away."

"You are such a baby sometimes, Meredith." Derek stated laughing. "When I was 10, my dad bought me a white mouse." Meredith made a grimace of disgust. "I had it for two months until my sister's cat found it as meal." Derek added and sighed with regret at the flashback of his memory. "I had named it Casper."

"Smart cat, rest in peace Casper." Meredith stated laughing.

Derek laughed and came over to her taking her in arms. "Mean… you are so mean, Meredith. So evil." He teased her as started leaning her to back.

Meredith laughed hanging tight on his arms for more safety. "Let me go, Derek!"

Derek pretended to let her fall, but caught her immediately and brought her up back into his arms.

"You are going to wet your pants." Meredith giggled at his kisses.

"I know, but I can't stay far away from you." Derek pushed her hair to back, holding it with both hands to back to expose her neck. "Come with me." He said dropping a kiss on her neck.

Meredith felt her knees weak and giggled at the shivers that his lips were giving her. "No" she pushed him away laughing. "You're a big boy. You can take care of yourself in bathroom."

Derek pulled back smiling ready to gave up. "Fine" He sniffed and acted upset.

Meredith returned in his arms and leaned her body against his, seductively smiling in front of his lips. "Maybe I'll let you join me in Jacuzzi"

Derek's eyes grew of excitement. "Are there recommended any bathing suits?"

"Maybe" Meredith pulled back smiling and ran out from kitchen.


	59. Happy Birthday, Derek!

Derek was surprised to find that Meredith was no longer in their bedroom when he came out from bathroom. Their bedroom was filled with a strong light coming from the bright sun from outside. Meredith had opened a window to let in the fresh air. Derek was curious to see where Meredith could go but the view from that bedroom charmed him. He inhaled several times to fresh air and smiled looking at the beautiful look of their bedroom. He walked over to window, which was overlooking the backyard and leaned over it to watch the view.

Immediately, his daze was broke by a splash coming from the swimming pool. Derek watched Meredith making a hole in water as her body sunk inside of it. The water was glowing on her skin when she came out for air, smoothing the hair to back and then leaning over the water again to start swimming. He watched her floating and from time, her feet splashing the water for a faster speed.

"What am I doing?" Derek chuckled as he pulled back from window and realized how stupid it was to stay and watch and not go and enjoy it.

-------------------------

Meredith was floating on back with her eyes closed when Derek arrived by the edge of the pool. Because Meredith didn't hear him coming, Derek jumped in water and made her lose the balance.

Derek was there to catch her and taking her in his arms, he gave her a kiss.

Calming down after that scare, Meredith slapped furious Derek's arm. "Did you really have to do that?"

"Yes" Derek answered grinning at her while rubbing the spot on arm she had slapped. "Because you didn't wait for me."

Meredith rolled her eyes smiling and pulled back from his arms. "It sure didn't take you long to join me." She said smiling and falling on back to float again.

Derek leaned on stomach and started swimming towards her direction. When they both reached to the edge of the swimming pool, where the stairs were, Derek stopped and went to sit on the highest stair. Meredith followed him and mounted him sitting on his lap.

Derek received her in his arms, lovingly pushing her hair to back. Meredith leaned to him and dropped a soft kiss over his lips. Derek caught her face with his hands and held her close to deepen the kiss. Meredith couldn't enjoy it more, so she leaned to hang on his neck sharing a loving kiss. His lips lingered on hers constantly feeling the need to have from her taste.

"You know what?" Meredith started pulling back from kiss to catch up some air and covered his lips with the index to keep him away from hers. "I'm glad you decided to have a weekend for ourselves only. I just hope that none will call you from hospital."

Derek smiled taking her hand away from his face and kissed her on cheek. "I told you I took care of everything. We are inexistent for two days, so anyone who tries to call us it won't find us."

Meredith watched him smiling and amazed by his idea. Right in that moment of tenderness, being there with him Meredith felt once again all the love he was carrying for her. It was an overwhelming feeling, which made her feel loved each day. She leaned to him and after she ran her finger over his lips, she kissed him softly. "I love you."

Derek smiled looking into her eyes. "But you don't love me as much as I do." He stated wishing to start a moment of lovers' statements.

Meredith giggled guessing his intention and replied in tease. "I don't want to love you more than you love me."

Derek sniffed smiling and kissed her.

The entire afternoon was spent over the swimming pool. The fine weather and their free weekend allow them to do and enjoy something they hadn't done for a long time.

Only when the sun started to set and the weather started to chill, the lovers noticed how late it was and how hungry they were.

"I have a surprise for you." Derek stated while drying himself with a towel.

"Another one?" Meredith giggled.

"This is the last one, I promise… at least for today." Derek winked and wrapped an arm around her waist to feel her body closer.

"I hope it's not something as barbarian as the handcuffs." Meredith joked.

"No. This is a romantic surprise." Derek replied smirking at her.

"Can't we eat something first?" Meredith asked him with a look of pain.

Derek chuckled at her cute look and leaned to her to kiss her. "It's part of the surprise."

"Oh so you are inviting me to dinner." Meredith smiled dirty at him.

"Kind of" Derek stated.

"Should I wear something special for this surprise of yours?" She asked him.

Derek took a second to think about it and answered. "Something sexy… like insanely sexy."

"Like a stripper?" Meredith laughed.

Derek laughed too and leaned to her for another kiss. "Whatever you will put on you, it will look insanely sexy."

"You are soapy." Meredith laughed and pushed him away from her. "When do you want me back down?" She asked as she started to walk ahead.

"Umm… 15 minutes I think." Derek said.

"Ok" Meredith winked as she looked back at him and walked inside.

Derek watched her disappearing inside the house before he followed her in a sprint, ready to surprise her again with something.

-------------------

After a shower and over 10 minutes spent in closet for something sexy to put on her, Meredith left the bedroom and headed downstairs.

"Derek?" She called his name as she got at the bottom of the stairs.

The silence was the only answer. Meredith looked curiously around her wondering what Derek was up to now. She looked into the direction of kitchen, but in there was dark. The whole house was dark, which thing made Meredith even more curious.

The only light was coming from living room. Stepping inside, Meredith was very pleasantly surprised to see the fire from fireplace and small candles spread all around the room. As she walked farther, Meredith giggled when she saw the couch turned to the fireplace and a blanket and small pillows lying down on floor between them.

She stirred a little when she felt Derek's arm sneaking around her waist and his breath tickling her neck. "An inside picnic, Derek?" Meredith asked giggling.

"Yes. I very romantic one." Derek replied nipping gently her earlobe. "Now let me see your outfit." He said pulling back and turning Meredith around to watch her better.

Derek cleared his throat in admiration for Meredith's outfit or better said her lingerie. A white satin gown with pink floral pattern and ruffle trim on triangle cups and at bottom. Her blonde hair hiding its slim white straps while her matching panties were easily visible through the thin material. "I haven't seen this before." He stated smirking at her.

Meredith giggled and came into the curve of his arm. "It's old stuff but I forgot about it."

"Who else had the pleasure to admire it?" Derek asked her trying to sound jealous.

"Hmm…" Meredith pretended to think about it. "Alex" She stated smiling at him waiting for his reaction.

That was supposed to be a joke and Meredith was supposed to tease him just a little, but mentioning Alex made him frown for real.

"Yeah…" Meredith giggled at his anticipated reaction. "I know he doesn't seem like, but he really likes to do shopping." Meredith stated. "He stimulated me to buy it when we were together at shopping one time." She hurried to add already knowing what Derek was thinking about. She stood up on tiptoes and gave kissed him on cheek. "When will you stop worrying about me and Alex?"

Derek didn't want to ruin their weekend with his jealousy, because deep down, though he was denying it, he was jealous on the friendship that his girlfriend and her best friend were sharing. He put an arm around her waist and brought her back in his arms. "Maybe when I will find out more details about your friendship." Derek replied and returned her the kiss on cheek. "We don't know too many things about each other." He added brushing her hair away from neck.

"But yet we are still together after almost half of year." Meredith said. "What's with your… sexy outfit?" Meredith giggled looking at Derek's trousers, the only clothing item he was wearing.

Derek laughed. "Ain't I sexy enough or what?"

Meredith put her hands on his chest and leaned to kiss him softly on lips. "You are insanely sexy."

"You should see me without them." Derek laughed smirking dirty at Meredith.

"I bet you look insanely hot." Meredith laughed and pulled back from his arms. "What do we have for dinner?" She asked taking his hand and leading him to the place he had arranged for them.

Derek sat down and brought Meredith down next to him. He took a dish and removed its napkin. "Tuna sandwiches." He stated showing her the sandwiches from dish.

At first, Meredith looked at him with an amused expression on her face thinking that he was joking. Then, after she saw him being serious, Meredith shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe this." She said sounding a little disappointed.

Then, Derek brought in front of them a bottle. "We also have red wine." He stated.

"Tuna sandwiches and red wine?" Meredith looked at him disappointed but amused in the same time. "We should told me and I could have come and help you. Let's try some real food, Derek!" She said and made a gesture to stand up.

Derek held her hand and stopped her. "Come here" He said bringing her back down beside him. "Dressed like this you aren't stepping in kitchen." Derek said joking.

"Ok, then I will take this off." Meredith replied and with one finger, she pushed off her shoulder a strap.

"Oh no, no" Derek laughed lifting back the strap and kissing her shoulder. "That would burn down the kitchen. Now take a bite from this." He said bringing a sandwich up to her mouth.

Meredith nipped just a little from the sandwich that Derek was holding in front of her mouth, trying to show disgusted and made him bring some real food. Just that her little act was immediately betrayed by the hunger brought by the hours spent in water. She grabbed it and devoured under Derek's amused eyes.

"Tasty huh?" Derek chuckled wiping the corner of her mouth with his thumb leaning to let a kiss over her lips.

"Shut up." Meredith laughed slapping his hand playful and leaned to take another sandwich.

While she was eating the second sandwich, Derek opened the bottle of whine and poured the pure red liquor in two glasses. Meredith paused for a moment to take the glass from Derek.

Derek held it up as for a toast. Meredith did the same and he lightly knocked his in hers. "For having you here today!" He toasted smiling gorgeous in her eyes.

"For being here with you today!" Meredith held his gaze smiling sparkling watching his eyes.

They sipped from their glasses and then resumed their dinner.

"Your cheeks are flushed." Derek admired running his finger over one of her cheeks. "The sun suits you."

Meredith removed his hand shyly and shook her head hiding her cheek under her palm. "It never did."

Derek put the empty dish on couch and took the glass from her placing it aside. "You are too harsh on yourself." He chuckled stroking gently her cheek. He slowly leaned to her until his lips breathed against hers.

Meredith leaned to his kiss as well, slowly pushing her hands on his shoulder for more support.

Derek's arm slid around her waist and he leaned forward as his body came to lay over her. Meredith guessed his thought and giggled delighted by it. She laid down settling under him and parting her legs to welcome him more comfortable.

His body pressed lightly over hers while his mouth continued to hover over her lips. His teeth nipped her bottom lip before sucking it. Meredith opened her mouth and Derek met her sweet breathe already carrying the wine's bouquet.

They kissed long and lovingly simply enjoying each other's embrace. As his lips slipped to her neck and lower to her shoulder, the embrace became more passionate from both sides. His fingers were now those who started to push off shoulders the straps of her lingerie. Derek kissed her bare shoulder on its length and traced the kisses even lower to her collarbone as her gown continued to slip off her body more and more.

Meredith moaned in pleasure as her fingers clutched his curly hair and held his head as close as possible to her body.

They made love there, in front of the bright light from the fireplace between small candles, which were filling the room a variety of floral aromas. The shades of the fire played along their bare bodies, reflecting its light their damp skin. The light poured down over their bodies keeping them under its warmth while they rested in each other's arms.

Meredith had her head down on his chest, her eyes closed, her fingertips making small circles on his skin, while Derek held his arm over her waist and the other one hugging her neck, his fingers playing with the tips of her hair.

"This is how I want to spend my birthdays from now on." Derek whispered watching the quiet play of the fire.

Meredith giggled and looked up at him amused not understanding the meaning of his words.

Derek looked down at her smiling and brushed her cheek with the back of his hand.

"I don't know when your birthday is." Meredith smiled as she concluded.

Derek chuckled and continued stare into the light of her eyes. "It's easy to remember." He said jokingly. "Because it's in the same day with your mother's birthday." Derek added now anxiously waiting for her reaction.

Meredith smiled and put her head back down on his chest. It took her less than a second to process his information. Her head jerked up looking confused at him. "Today?"

Derek laughed at her expected reaction. "It was the best birthday ever." He hurried to assure her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Meredith frowned a little offended.

Derek rolled to a side still holding her in his arms as he sat her beside him. "You never asked." He laughed leaning to her and kissed her softly on lips. He pulled back as he met her rigid unwilling lips. "Mer" He pleaded smiling lovingly in her eyes. "Was this something important for you?" He asked.

Meredith sighed still sounding disappointed and propped her head up in her hand.

"I wanted your unconditioned attention today." Derek confessed running his hand across her back. "And I had the best birthday."

"You are right." Meredith muttered watching over his shoulder at the play of the fire. "We don't know too many things about each other."

"We know what we need to know. The rest are minor insignificant details." Derek spoke softly. "Alex told me once when your birthday is, but I have to admit with shame that I forgot." He chuckled.

Meredith looked at him and smiled slightly. "You are lying. You didn't forget."

Derek smiled clenching his lips to muffle a laugh. "You know more about me than I know about you." Meredith sighed and laid down on back facing the ceiling.

"You know I love you." Derek leaned over her face smiling in attempt to light up her mood again. Just that his attempt failed lamely as her eyes started tearing. "Mer" Derek lay down beside her and rolled her to a side to hug her from back. The guilt of not sharing the date of his birthday with him washed over him, although he knew that it wasn't the only reason for her sudden depression.

"I told you already, Meredith… we know what we need to know about each other. The rest we'll find them in time." He spoke softly to her ear.

"Tell me more about your mother." She whispered with shaky voice.

"Well…" Derek paused for a second to pick the right words. "As I told you, she is… not your mother." He reminded her he had told about his mother in the same morning when she called him to wish him Happy Birthday. "She is a nice person, a little nosy sometimes… all the time, but she is … the best." Derek confessed with emotion and amusement in voice. "I have four sisters: Anna, Nancy, Kathleen and Angie, all married with children. I grew up in Hamptons with my family until the age of 19 when my father passed away… car accident." Derek paused a little to regain the fluency of his words. "I like the Brazilian coffee …"

"Derek" Meredith cut him off with a trembling voice.

"What is it?" Derek asked curious.

"Did you agree to have a relationship with me from pity?" She asked her with her voice ready to crack.

"What?" Derek reacted shocked. "How can you ask me something like this?"

Meredith rolled on her back and showed her wet face. "Your ex-girlfriend had a normal family?"

Derek sighed profoundly regretting for bringing up this kind of discussion today. He wiped her face using his palm and then leaned down to kiss her nose. "I fell in love with you the morning I woke up in your dusty house."

Meredith looked into his eyes with emotion. "I found out about your mother and your past later and the fact that I continued to get involved in this relationship after that, has absolutely nothing to do with your family life."

Meredith drew a smile on her lips encouraging him to lean to her for another kiss. "Should I continue with my presentation?" Derek asked.

Meredith smiled and rolled over to snuggle her back in his arms again. "No" She whispered. "Those are minor insignificant details."

Derek stood up a little to reach to her cheek and kissed it. "I love you!" He whispered to her ear before lying down next to her again.

"I know" Meredith replied.

Derek sunk his face in the back of her neck holding her arm in his and her body glued to his.

"Happy birthday, Derek!" Meredith took his hand and kissed it.

Derek smiled happy and squeezed their intertwined fingers. "Thanks"

Meredith opened her eyes as she stirred in sleep. The sensation of their flannel sheets made her slightly confused and curious since the last place she remembered before drifting to sleep was besides the warmth of the fireplace. She rolled to a side, her bare skin rubbing against the sheets. Meredith looked even more confused finding Derek's side empty.

She stood up drawing the covers around her and instantly she met Derek's eyes on her. He was watching her from the windowsill after he guessed that she would wake up. "Come here" He whispered holding out a hand for her.

"What are you doing, Derek?" Her dozy voice asked.

"I want you to see something." Derek whispered turning his gaze back out on window.

Meredith giggled and trailed off from bed. "It better be good." She muttered acting cranky.

"Put something on you." Derek chuckled still not taking his eyes from the window.

Meredith had reached to the first clothing item from a nearby chair as Derek said that. She raised the eyebrows amused and pulled the shirt on her. "Don't you like me sexy anymore?" She asked buttoning the shirt on her way to Derek.

Derek held out his arm to welcome her as she reached to him. His hand came around her waist gently pushing her closer to him. "You look sexy with my shirt on too." He chuckled leaning to kiss her on cheek. "Come here." He let one of his legs down from the windowsill to make room for her.

Meredith sat down and leaned her back on Derek's chest. "Full moon." She gasped with surprise.

"Something rare isn't it?" He said more as a statement than as a question.

"Yeah" Meredith smiled resting her head on Derek's shoulder while watching the bright light of the moon.

Derek brought his arms around her and kissed her. "I had a dream." He said watching the same shinning ball as Meredith, and put his chin on Meredith's shoulder.

"I didn't know you are dreamless." Meredith chuckled jokingly.

Derek smiled and brushed his lips against her cheek. "This was… it was one of those unique dreams." He said.

"Interesting" Meredith giggled. "Tell me more"

Derek stood silent which thing made Meredith turn her head to face him. "I'm not sure if I should tell you." Derek said smiling at her.

"You bragged with your unique dream and now you suddenly don't want to share it?" Meredith rolled her eyes and turned her look over the moon.

Derek remained silent again. This time, his silence and hesitation lasted less. "We were at hospital." He started and made Meredith looked worried at him. He chuckled and rubbed her cheek with the back of his hand. "You were the patient." He continued. "And I paced along the hallway for what it seemed like hours." He paused again to watch each expression on Meredith's face. "Then a doctor… I don't think I know the doctor, a female doctor." Derek mentioned. "She took me by arm and led me to a room. In there, you were in bed cradling something to your chest. There were white and pink blankets and a pink little hand was fussing between them."

Meredith found herself staring stunned in Derek's eyes listening to his dream.

Derek could read the shock from her face. He smiled and stroked gently her cheek. "But I couldn't see her face." He added and leaned to kiss her softly on lips, this time. With that, he put period to his dream and grasped his arms around her. "The garden looks amazing." He moved his gaze outside again. The shining moon spreading its light over the trees and lawn, playing in the water from swimming pool.

"Do you think it will be a girl?" Meredith asked following his sight outside.

"I don't know." Derek replied. "The last time I dreamed a baby boy."

Meredith turned to look at him. "The night after we had that fight over your false alarm." Derek said. "I don't care about their sex." He chuckled as he saw her panicked face hearing the word 'their'. "The only thing that I care is to have them with you." Derek continued. "I'll wait." He hurried to add.

Meredith smiled and cupped his cheek with her palm. She leaned to him and her lips softly kissed his. "I want to you be their daddy."

Meredith stood up and moved from his arms across the windowsill. She sat down and arched a leg beside his. "Why did you choose Seattle?" She asked him looking outside. As she put the question, she glanced at him.

Derek shrugged as first answer. "I had met Richard to a medical conference a few months before my decision and had tried to see if he had any chance with me. Then that Addison episode happened and I remembered Richard's offer. So here I am today."

Meredith laughed silently at him. "So Richard brought you in my life." She concluded. "Ellis would kill him for sure with painful torture if she finds out."

Derek joined her amusement and laughed as well.

The silence fell over the room as they started gazing outside. "Do you miss your father?" She asked breaking the silence. She turned her look on him waiting for his answer.

"I do… sometimes." He answered before meeting her eyes. He smiled and looked straight into her eyes. "Do you?"

Meredith shook her head and looked outside. "I can't miss someone I don't remember. As father figure, I had my uncle Michael… and Richard. How's Mark?" She asked changing the subject.

Derek complied. "I'm not sure. I kind of ignored him lately."

"Are you still jealous?" She asked.

Derek knew what she was referring at. "A little bit." He confessed sounding sincere. "I hope they will let me choose a name. Knowing Mark, the poor baby might get with Markus or Marguerita."

Meredith laughed and shook her head simply imagining Mark's crazy ideas over the baby's name. "Can I confess something?" She asked smiling shyly at Derek.

Derek gave her speaking look.

Meredith smiled rolling her eyes and looked outside again. "I'm curious to see how is with a baby in family."

Derek couldn't help but smile overwhelmed by the happiness that Meredith's words brought to his soul. "We could baby sit."

Meredith looked at him and smiled. "We could." She replied. "Now do you want to baby sit me?" She asked him playfully.

Derek jumped on his feet and held out one hand for her. Meredith did the same and put her hand in his to let him lead her back to bed.

They crawled under covers and snuggled in each other's arms. "Good night, Derek!"

"Good night, Mer!" Derek kissed the top of her head and rested his head on hers.

--------------

_I'm sorry for the lack of updates, but I am hooked on a book. It's a trilogy so I still have one part left to read. I'll try not to negligee the writing though._

10


	60. Make a wish

Sleepy, Derek stretched his body and rolled over to Meredith's side of bed with the intention of snuggling with her. Just that as he did that, he found her side of bed empty. Derek opened his eyes, slowly adjusting them at light and saw that Meredith was missing. Confused, he stood up and looked around him. Everything was silent. He thought for a second that Meredith might have woken up early to be able to sneak out and go to hospital; but then he shook his head refusing that Meredith would let him down. He got out of bed and stumbled sleepy on his way outside. As he reached to the top of the stairs, Derek felt guilty for suspecting Meredith of escape even for a second. He could hear some noises coming from kitchen and guessed that it couldn't have been anyone else but Meredith. Derek chuckled and climbed down the stairs hurried, curious of what 'surprise' Meredith was preparing in such a dangerous place for her, as the kitchen.

He slowed his steps as he approached to kitchen and tiptoed. Derek leaned against the doorway, arms folded against the chest, watching amazed Meredith's back. 

Meredith had her back turned to doorway and she seemed much focused on what she was doing at table, so Derek's appearance passed unnoticed by her.

Without any sound, Derek tiptoed to her and stopped a few inches behind her. Curious to find out first what she was doing there, Derek looked over her shoulder and smiled shaking slowly from his head.

Meredith was decorating a chocolate cake, judging by its message, Derek's birthday cake. He almost burst into laugh after he read its message again.

'Happy birthday, Derk!' was written with cream.

Derek put an arm around her waist, making her jump scared, while his other arm sneaked beside her and wiped with his finger from cream, purposely ruining his miswritten name.

"Derek!" Meredith shouted nervous slapping hard his hand. "Look what have you done!"

Derek licked his finger chuckling and then brought her in his arms. Nuzzling through her hair, his face breathed across her neck and kissed her. "Is this my birthday cake?" He asked.

"Yeah" Meredith grumbled nervous trying to repair what Derek had smudged. "It might not taste great, but at least allow me to me it presentable." 

Derek didn't want to ruin her feelings because it was obvious that Meredith didn't notice that she had written his name wrong. "I'm sorry." He apologized, sounding guilty indeed. "But it tastes great. At least the cream does." He chuckled and kissed her on cheek. 

"It's rum flavored." Meredith mumbled a little comforted by his apologizes and kisses.

"I noticed. My favorite." He kissed her again and then pulled back to go lean against the table and watch her. "Thank you!" Derek fixed his gaze on her face, unable to hide the contagious smile from his lips.

Meredith smiled back at him and then took the syringe and refilled it with cream so that she could re-write Derek's name. "Make sure that you put the second 'e' on my name." He chuckled.

Meredith looked at him with a glare. "What's that suppose to mean?" She asked him angrier this time, though she still didn't know what he was talking about.

"Nothing" Derek stroked gently her cheek, smiling while staring in her eyes for a moment. "What do you want for breakfast?" He asked her, already heading toward refrigerator.

"I'm not really hungry." Meredith replied, carefully writing Derek's name on cake again.

"Milk and cereals then." Derek said and took out the box with milk and the box with cereals from cabinet. 

While Derek set the breakfast for them, Meredith finished with Derek's cake. She fumbled through drawers after something until she found it. She took out a candle and planted it in the centre of the cake. Then she took a match and lighted the candle. Meredith picked the plate up and went over to Derek. "Make a wish." Meredith brought the cake in front of him smiling. Derek smiled looking in her eyes. "And don't make that wish." Meredith warned him smiling.

"Hey! You don't get to rule my whishes." Derek protested laughing. "Ok so here goes my wish…" He said and paused for a moment while he repeated it in his mind, then blew in candle.

"Happy birthday, Derek!" Meredith smiled.

Derek took the cake from her hands and put it back on table. Now that they were free hands again, Derek brought her in his arms and held her head between his hands while kissing her passionate. "Cereals and cake after?" Derek suggested.

"And some sex in the end." Meredith added.

Derek smirked laughing and still holding her head in his hands, he pressed a kiss on forehead. "I love you!"


	61. One day

After Derek set their breakfast at table, Meredith took a chair and pulled it toward the window

After Derek set their breakfast at table, Meredith took a chair and pulled it toward the window.

"What are you doing?" Derek asked her amused, after he saw her coming back and taking her bowl with cereals.

"I want to enjoy the view." Meredith smiled glancing up at him and walked careful back to her chair.

Derek stared at her amused. He looked out on window and chuckled. The weather was very gray and rainy and there was no view to watch. 

"Shut it" Meredith giggled throwing him a glare before he could say something.

Derek shook his head stunned by Meredith's cute craziness, but decided to comply, so he took a chair and moved it in front of Meredith's chair so they could face each other. 

While Derek went back to table to take his breakfast, Meredith sat comfortable in her chair curled in a ball, with the knees to chest and the bowl with cereals on them.

"You don't have to mock me… it is not nice." Meredith grumbled without looking up at Derek when he came to sit on his chair.

"I could never do that." Derek faked a gasp as if Meredith's word had offended them, though he couldn't hold back a chuckle. "I just want to be close to you." He added pouting.

Meredith smiled rolling her eyes at his cheap acting. She stretched her legs and then propped them on Derek's chair while she continued to eat from her bowl and stare out on window.

Derek did the same think, just that his gaze hardly could leave Meredith's face. That was the view he wanted to see at breakfast and not the gray rainy morning of Seattle. Though his gaze was intense, Meredith seemed far in her thoughts and didn't glance up at him not even once.

They ate their breakfast in silence, each of them with their own thoughts.

"I like the rain." Meredith said after a while since her spoon had been left in her bowl. "Do you like it?" She asked turning her sight on Derek.

Derek remained silence for a moment, surprised by her question. "I am ok with it." He answered, shrugging still confused for not understanding if her question meant a certain answer.

Meredith looked back out on window. "I like it." she mumbled. With a sigh, she put the bowl on the windowsill and brought her knees back to her chest. Wrapping her arms around them, she rested her chin on them.

"What's wrong?" Derek also had finished his food and put his bowl beside Meredith's.

"Nothing" Meredith looked up at him and smiled. "It's… the weather I think."

Derek grabbed the edges of Meredith's chair and pulled it in front of him. As if that was what she had thought about, Meredith stood up and moved in Derek's arms, resting her back against his chest. 

"Are you bored?" He whispered running his hand over cheekbones and kissed her.

Meredith shook her head immediately to assure him of that. "Derek?" She asked thoughtful.

"Yes" Derek whispered still caressing her cheek, from time to time brushing his cheek on hers. 

"What if your mother won't like me?" She asked in the same thoughtful manner still gazing out on window.

"Where did question come from?" Derek asked her confused, slightly worried.

Meredith looked at him serious. "You're taking time to think." She reproached quietly.

"No, I don't" Derek replied convincing. "I am just surprised by this sudden subject." He explained into a calm tone. "And to answer your question, my mother doesn't have a reason not to like you." He added fast seeing her ready to add more. "Now why are you so stressed about this?" Derek asked her worried.

Meredith turned her gaze out on window again watching the rain pouring down the window. The back yard was now a blur view. 

"Mer" Derek whispered softly to her ear after he gave her enough time to answer his question. He took a strand of hair from her shoulder and moved it to back, stroking it in his hand and breathing in its sense.

Meredith sighed and the words came out quietly. "Yesterday when your mother called… you told me about your family… you have a family, Derek." She said and looked back at him. This time, her eyes were filled with sadness. "You had a family, a life before you moved here. I don't know anything about your family… your mother, your sisters. What if they won't accept me in your life?"

Derek stroked her cheek gently, smiling while looking in her eyes. "You said it yourself… my life."

"So there are chances for them not to like me." Meredith said and fought back a tear.

"Mer" Derek said softly, tightening his arms around her. "I didn't say that. As long as they see me happy, you are going to be one of their favorite girls." He confessed and chuckled.

"Are you happy?" Meredith asked.

Derek smiled shaking his head at her sudden worry. "Look at me." He put a finger under her chin and made her turn the head to look at him. "Do I look happy to you?" He asked her smiling as wide as he could; his lips were a big smile, his eyes were clear and happy.

"Derek" Meredith whined ashamed and tried to look away, but Derek's hand held firm her chin.

"Meredith, I don't look happy. I look extremely happy." He said and leaned forward to press his lips against hers.

Meredith put her head on his shoulder sighing. "I don't… I don't think I want to lose you." She whispered.

Derek chuckled kissing the top of her head. "I think this was the best birthday present I have ever received… unless you are going to tell me that you're pregnant." He added laughing.

Meredith laughed and punched him lightly between ribs. "I hope you made a reasonable wish otherwise you wasted it."

Derek kissed her forehead. "I won't tell you what wish I made, because then it won't come true." he chuckled rubbing her arm. "To help you calm down about this new panic of yours, we could pay visit to my family. I could talk to Richard to give us another weekend off."

Meredith raised her head and looked him terrified. "We can't… I cannot afford another weekend off from work." She stammered.

Derek stayed in the same cheerful attitude as earlier. "Ok…" he said. "They could pay us a visit." He chuckled as if his intention was to terrify her even more. He laughed and took her face in his hands. "Kidding." He kissed the tip of her lips. "But that day will come one day." 

Meredith sighed with relief and put her head back on his shoulder watching again the rain. "One day" She agreed mumbling, making it sound more as a command. 

Derek didn't reply and just held her in his arms, resting his cheek on her head and brushing her hair with his fingers. 

"You shouldn't be scared of my mother." He whispered to her ear after a few moments of pleasant, embracing moments. "I can warn you by now that she can be the most annoying person sometimes… all the time…" He added with a chuckle. "He even annoys her children, but she is not a bad person. She doesn't make impressions about people without getting to know them first. As for the annoying part, you won't have to stand her that much, considering that we are in Seattle and she is in Manhattan; just try to breath, relax and ignore her for some holidays." He laughed. "I would do whatever it takes not to lose you… not to push you out of my life." Derek continued, but in a serious tone this time. "At this point, I can't picture my future without you in it, but…" He sighed and chuckled. "I guess you already figured that since we are now leaving in this house together… we have our house."

Meredith continued to stare out on window as if she wouldn't have heard any of his words. After a short silence, keeping the same dazed position, Meredith spoke. "Did you use to tell all these to Addison as well?" Derek stood quiet for a moment, caught off guard. Meredith turned her look slowly over him and smiled slightly waiting for his answer.

Derek leaned to her and kissed her cheek. "Why are you asking me this? Is this important for you to know?"

Meredith chuckled and looked back out on window. "You did." She answered herself. "Then how did you two end up being separate?" She asked glancing at him again. "How do you know I am the one?"

Derek sighed catching the meaning of her question. "I don't blame Addison entirely for our separation, but everything is different with you." He said. 

"How?" Meredith shifted in his arms and settled so that she could face him. 

"For example, when I am at work, caught for long hours in hospital, everything that keeps me sane and willing to end up the day is the thought of finding you her. Even if I find you sleeping and we don't have the chance to say not even hi, is still the thing that makes my day. I guess that I wasn't as involved in previous relationship as I am now in this one. 

Meredith smiled impressed by his declaration. "Ok" she whispered and rested her head on him again.

"Ok?" Derek laughed tightening his arms around her. "Ok" He agreed. "Now can I know from where did this talk come?"

Meredith shrugged in his arms. "I guess from our talk from yesterday… about how we don't know anything about each other."

"Now that we know almost everything we need to know about each other, when are we setting the wedding date?" Derek said jokingly.

Meredith elbowed him between ribs. She leaned to him and pressed her lips against his, before standing up.

Derek watched her going to table and picking up the cake. "What are you doing with that?" He asked her suddenly worried when Meredith headed with it to the trashcan. He jumped on his feet fast and went to take the cake from her hands.

"You can't eat this, Derek." Meredith giggled. "You know how horrible I am at baking."

"At least let me try it." Derek insisted and took the cake back on table.

Meredith rolled her eyes and sighed. "Please don't laugh at me, ok?"

Derek gave her a funny look. "Why would I laugh at you? Now let's cut this." He said taking a knife and sliced two pieces from it. 

Meredith took two plates from the cupboard and brought them to Derek. She let him taste it first, preparing herself to receive some sarcastic remarks.

Derek took the first mite and chewed it, taking time to appreciate the flavor. Though he had been very facetious so far regarding Meredith's cooking skills, now while still tasting from his piece of cake, Derek smiled impressed at her. "This can make my mom very jealous of you." He stated.

"No really." Meredith giggled raising an eyebrow suspicious at him.

"You don't believe me." Derek said as he put the plate down. "Then come and convince yourself." He pulled her into him and kissed her on lips, making her open the mouth and share the flavor of chocolate with rum.

The kissed turned more passionate as Derek picked her up and set her on table without parting their lips. Her fingers were well clutched in his hair, while his arm was holding steady her waist and his hand brushed through her hair.

"Not here." Meredith moaned when her lips were left free.

Derek answered without words, picking her up again; her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck while Derek carried her out from kitchen to the only destination from his mind at that point.

"I love this couch." Meredith laughed as Derek put her down on couch in living room.

"Me too." Derek agreed kissing her softly on lips. "It's very well set."

The rest of the day went by completely out of Derek's initial plan. They went out for shopping, lunch, dinner, movie, spending the whole day outside the house. The night brought them back home in their bed and each other's arms.


	62. Good morning

After two late mornings, the alarm blurred again early in the morning. The alarm blurred for more minutes than usual until Derek groaned and rolled over to hit it and stop it. Rolling back in bed, dozy, Derek put his arm around Meredith, snuggling against her back. "We have to wake up." He muttered without being heard by Meredith. Derek didn't react right away at Meredith's absence and allowed himself more moments to wake up. When it was suppose for one of them to wake up in the morning, Derek was the most responsible. Knowing that the minutes were passing by fast and than they would run late for work soon, Derek forced his eyes to open. He stood up a little and reached over to kiss Meredith's cheek. "Wake up, Mer!" He spoke, louder this time to her ear.

Meredith sniffed sleepy and groaned without any other sign of awaking. "Come on, Mer! We are going to be late." Derek shoved her gently.

Meredith turned around whimpering and cringe beside him. "5 more minutes." She muttered.

"I'll go take a fast shower." Derek kissed her again deciding to give her few extra minutes of sleep.

The shower woke Derek completely. After he shaved his beard and did his toilet, he came out of bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. In their room, Meredith had occupied the entire bed, sleeping in its middle.

"Wake up, Meredith!" Derek said loud enough to make himself heard by Meredith.

"Derek" Meredith whined pulling the quilt over her head.

Derek grabbed the edge of the quilt and dragged it off Meredith exposing her naked body. Meredith curled up in a ball at the cold atmosphere, but refused to stand up and get out of bed. Derek shook his head smiling and lay down beside her. "Come on, Mer! It's time to wake up!" He almost whispered this time, gently brushing her hair off face.

"I don't want to." Meredith whined snuggling against him.

"You don't want to or you can't to?" Derek asked her smiling.

"Both." Meredith replied sleepy.

"I had troubles keeping you at home from hospital and now I am having problems sending you from home to hospital." Derek chuckled. He stayed there beside her for a few more moments knowing that soon she would wake up enough to leave the bed.

"Call them and tell them I am sick." Meredith muttered.

"Do you want to miss a third day of good surgeries?" Derek asked her.

"Mhmm." Meredith replied sleepy.

Derek chuckled. "Do you want to miss watching me rocking in the OR today?"

"Mhmm" Meredith replied in the same sleepy manner.

"Ouch! That hurt." Derek laughed, this time making Meredith giggle as well. "Come on!" He stood up holding her hand.

Without any other whimper or refuse, Meredith stood up and Derek put a bathrobe on her shoulders. "Go shower and I will make coffee."

--

Meredith came downstairs more refreshed, but still yawning. The smell of fresh coffee coming from kitchen cheered her up a little more.

"Hey!" Derek greeted her smiling wide at her, holding a mug of coffee for her. "Here" He came over to give it to her. "As reward for waking up this early." He chuckled kissing her on cheek.

"What's for breakfast?" Meredith sat down at table sipping from the hot coffee.

"Pancakes" Derek answered grinning and hurried to flip over another pancake in his pan.

"How can you find the mood to cook in morning? So early?" Meredith asked him frowning.

"This cheers me up." Derek replied cheerful.

"You're weird." Meredith frowned sipping from her coffee.

"Not as weird as you are when you are cranky." Derek chuckled. "Oh come on! Lit up, be my sunshine in this gray rainy day."

"Oh please!" Meredith groaned smiling. "Don't be cheesy! Not at this hour."

Derek laughed and took out of pan the last pancake. He brought them to table and took out two plates from the cupboard.

Beside the plate with pancakes, he also placed a bottle of strawberry syrup. "To sweeten you a little." He chuckled pushing the bottle towards Meredith.

Childish, Meredith stuck out her tongue at him and grabbed the bottle to cover her pancakes. "You still don't know what's up with Mark?" She asked after a mouthful of breakfast.

"No" Derek shook his head. "But I am sure that I will see him today at work. It's strange…" He said. "… too silent without him."

Meredith laughed muffled. "We should sleep over my house if you miss the rowdiness that much."

Derek made a grimace shaking his head. "It was a way to say I miss him, Mer."

"Don't say it loud and in public." Meredith laughed. "You make yourself sound gay and you know…" she smirked at him. "…I still remember that night." She burst into laugh remembering the night when she found Derek and Mark sleeping in the same bed.

Derek sniffed smiling and stubbed his fork in his pancakes.

Meredith was the first one who finished her breakfast. She stood up and washed her plate and the cup of coffee. "Want some cake?" She asked Derek while heading to the refrigerator.

"Sure" Derek nodded wiping the left syrup with the last piece of pancake.

Meredith put a slice of her chocolate cake on a plate and gave it to Derek. Then she moved the rest of the cake into a casserole. At first, Derek didn't give too much to what she was doing and starting eating from his slice of cake glancing up from time to time at Meredith.

"What are you doing?" Derek jumped on his feet almost shouting when he saw Meredith putting the casserole in her bag.

Meredith looked at him surprised by his reaction. "I want to give some of it to Alex. You know… to brag a little." Meredith giggled. "You have no idea how much he used to laugh of my cooking skills."

"But… that's my cake." Derek frowned disappointed.

Meredith looked at him amused. "There isn't much left of it."

"I know. Not that I don't like to share but… that's my cake." Derek came over to her, obviously not whiling to share from his cake with anyone.

"Derek" Meredith didn't know if she should be amused or angry with his attitude.

"This is so good, Mer." Derek said pouting. "You can make another for them if you want to prove anything to Alex."

"I can make another one for you and Alex can have this leftover." Meredith replied.

"I don't mind if I eat the leftovers." Derek said.

Meredith looked at him suspiciously until something clicked in her mind and made her glare him. "You don't think I can make another cake as tasty as this one."

Derek smiled innocent at her, but then he hurried to soothe her not wishing to hurt her feelings. "I didn't want to make it sound like that." Derek wrapped his hand around her waist, but pouted, Meredith pulled back from him. "Mer" Derek insisted, this time bringing her in his arms. "I might be a little stingy when it comes to chocolate cake."

"You might be?" Meredith raised an eyebrow, then smiled amused at him. "You are a stingy! This is not nice of you, Derek."

Derek sighed resigned. "I know." He leaned to her and kissed her softly on lips. "I guess you can brag to your friends with my cake."

"Your cake?" Meredith laughed shaking her head. "You don't deserve another gesture like this from me."

"Sorry" Derek smiled sincerely and kissed her again.

"Let's get ready for work." Meredith giggled pushed him away from her shaking her head.

Despite the hard time she had had with the awaking, Derek managed to bring Meredith at hospital in time. Meredith sprinted to the locker room, full of energy and good spirit, ready to start another week of work. Her good spirit, which more looked like a high spirit surprised her fellow co-workers with her giggles as she stormed in locker room.

Alex showed up in front of her leaning his face to her and sniffed. "Inhale or iv?" He asked jokingly referring at the cause of Meredith's high mood.

Meredith giggled slapping his arm. "A weekend off." She answered and passed him to go to her locker. Izzie was already there, leaning against the locker, arms folded across the chest, smiling at her.

"It must have been special." Izzie smirked.

"Very special." Meredith retorted suggestively.

"You have to tell me everything about it." Izzie squealed delighted.

Meredith laughed as she opened her locker, being ready to change into her scrub tops. She had just taken off her sweater when a cold hand wrapped around her waist. "Jim" Meredith groaned, recognizing the gesture without even looking back at him.

"You are a horrible host." Jim chuckled to her ear and kissed her cheek. "I thought you would wait for me at airport with flowers, invite me to dinner to catch up a little bit, but I arrived in this stinky city, nobody was at the airport waiting for me and I have to take a cab to get to your house." Jim acted pouted still holding Meredith close to his body.

Meredith was in a too good mood to be pissed by Jim's heckles, so she just rolled her eyes and pushed him away from her. "It's good to see you too, Jim!" Meredith smiled and hurried to hide her skin under the scrub top.

"Back off, Jim!" Izzie pulled him back from Meredith and stepped between them. "Nobody is interested in listening to your chatter. Other things are important now." She said smiled suggestively at Meredith. "So? Where did the lovebirds spend the weekend?"

In the meantime, Alex, Cristina and George joined the group already dressed in their scrubs and ready for work, but also curious to find out about Derek's mysterious plans for weekend.

"At home" Meredith answered as she continued to change her clothes. She noticed the silence that fell around her friends and glanced at them amused from the corner of her eye.

Indeed, her friends shared a confused look. "Uh… Mer?" Izzie looked at her curious. "Could you please repeat?"

Meredith laughed shutting her locker. She leaned against it folding her arms across the chest and staring at them smiling. "We spent the weekend at home… part of it. Just Derek and I."

Alex, Cristina and Jim looked at each other hardly fighting back a laugh, while Izzie and George were staring at her in daze.

"What's so shocking?" Meredith rolled her eyes amused. "Are we done with the interrogatory already? Wow! That was fast." She laughed as she turned around to walk away.

"I heard that he bought an extravagant house, but he can't afford to offer you a vacation somewhere special?" Jim commented laughing in mockery. "Or is he such a stingy? That was the stupidest idea of vacation I have ever heard."

His mockery made Meredith feel her blood boiling and the blood pressure rising because of anger. "You definitely don't know anything about love." Meredith hardly controlled to anger from her voice and spun around turning her back to Jim. She took a deep breath to calm down and turned around again. Calmer this time, Meredith succeeded a smile. "It was Derek's birthday on Saturday and his wish was to spend some time alone in our extravagant house." She emphasized the words our and extravagant as arrogant answer for Jim.

"Aww" Izzie moaned honestly touched, smiling at her. "That must have been very romantic."

"It was." Meredith smirked at her. "Ow" She reminded the piece of cake that she had managed to take from Derek. She opened the locker again and looked in her bag. From it, she took out the casserole with cake. "This is from Derek." She said handing the casserole to George, who was the closest to her. "It's not much, but you can at least taste it."

Jim rolled his eyes, at all impressed. With a disgusted expression, he stepped away from the group and went to his locker.

Nobody seemed to notice his reaction and Meredith's friends started eating from Derek's birthday cake. Meredith watched pleased the appetite they were eating the cake with, proud that she hadn't told them who made it.

"Derek is old fashioned." Alex stated in the end, whipping the corner of his mouth. "Nowadays you can come out with more modern ideas of romantic weekends." The fact that Meredith and Izzie were so impressed by Derek's idea, and George found it cute as well, Alex couldn't help not to feel jealous.

Meredith and Izzie shared an amused look. "Old fashioned will always be modern. Nothing beats the old-fashioned romanticism." Izzie declared and Meredith approved her with a nod.

"To me, romantic is a mind-blowing orgasm." Cristina confessed and Jim approved her.

"To me, romantic is to torture my interns when they are spending their time useless!" Bailey cleared her throat, pressing firmly on each word.

The small group around the casserole scattered and Meredith disposed it to bin.

"Grey, Stevens cover the ER, Karev, Sloan needs an intern, O'Mailey- discharges!" Bailey ordered. "Martin" She added in the end. "You are going to have the pleasure to shadow me today."

"A resident?" Jim made a disgusted look. "How about an attending?"

Bailey slowly looked up at him, quiet and expressionless for a moment. Jim smiled thinking how easy it had been to get rid off her. "I'm moving, you are moving!" Suddenly, Bailey's shout made everyone in there flinch, Jim as well.

The interns knew that Dr. Bailey had shouted at Jim, but that the message was addressed to all of them. Therefore, everyone hurried outside, sending sympathetic smiles to Jim.

--

In the meantime, Derek got ready for work and went to check the post-operated patients. He asked the nurse for a chart and headed towards the first patient's room. Reading it and pacing slowly on down the hall, he bumped in someone who had propped itself in his way. "Mark" Derek closed his eyes scared by the unexpected impact.

Mark smiled and chuckled. He turned around and joined Derek's pace. "So how was the weekend? Was Meredith thrilled with your idea? Did you tell her it was your birthday? How…" Mark would have wanted to continue, but Derek held out one hand.

"The weekend was perfect." Derek answered proudly. "Yes, I told Meredith. She was surprised, but yet I had the weekend I wanted."

"Was my… present useful?" Mark grinned at him referring at the pair of handcuffs that he had offered to Derek.

"Not really." Derek replied sincere without worrying not to hurt Mark's feelings.

Mark sniffed but continued the pace with Derek. "You and Meredith are invited to dinner tonight." He said.

"We are?" Derek looked at him surprised. "By who?"

Mark rolled his eyes. "By me of course."

"Why?" Derek asked confused.

Mark groaned exasperated. "To celebrate your birthday together."

"Oh" Derek chuckled as he finally understood. "Well… I'm coming, but Meredith has to work tonight."

Mark frowned disappointed, which made Derek look at him even more curious. "Wait a second." He stopped as he realized something. "Did you invite me and … Meredith?"

"Yeah" Mark answered. "What? Is something strange? Don't you want to have your girlfriend with you?"

Derek shook his head. "No… it's not that. But it's weird to hear you inviting Meredith to our evenings out." Mark chuckled and uncomfortable rubbed the back of his neck. "What is it?" Derek asked him suspicious.

"Well…" Mark started hesitant. "Angela will come too." He muttered, hardly audible.

"Oh" Derek chuckled. "I suppose that you got used with the idea of becoming father."

"I am working on it." Mark said smiling. "Ok so… will you come without Meredith?"

"Sure" Derek nodded.

"Great! I'll see you later then." Mark patted Derek on back and turned on his heels to go back to his work.

Derek stood there, pinned in a spot thinking of what Mark just told him. He let out a sigh. He was happy for his best friend, but he had to admit that he was also jealous. Derek had just picked up his track when Dr. Bailey called his name.

Turning around, Derek's smile faded as he saw Jim following Bailey. "Dr. Bailey!" Derek smiled politely, though his eyes were glaring over her shoulder at Jim.

"We are going to check on Mrs. Mason. You rescheduled her surgery for today." She reminded him.

Derek looked away from Jim and tried to focus more on what Bailey was telling him. "Yes, I know. I was just heading there."

"So I do get to assist to a good surgery today." Jim stated with satisfaction. Derek and Bailey looked at each other and smiled knowingly.

"That depends on what your resident needs you to do and on how well prepared you are to scrub in." Derek replied grinning, knowing how to cut Jim's arrogance.

"Mrs. Mason has her lower body paralyzed so she needs extra medical care after this surgery." Bailey explained him, cutting off Jim's enthusiasm.

Jim looked resentful at her and Derek.

Same as Meredith, Derek was feeling high. He had one of the best weekends ever and his day seemed to move on in the same manner.

_--_

_I'm so sorry for not updating this fic for so long. The truth is that I am not sure if I should continue it. _

_Do you have any suggestions on what you would like to read?I still have many ideas for it, but lately the feedback from readers was poorer so I am asking…Is the storyline getting boring?_


	63. One small red unpleasant surprise

**N/A: Thank you for your encouragements. I really needed those.**

**Unfortunately I didn't have time to write so much lately, so again I apologize for the lack of updates. But... tomorrow I'll leave for a short vacation so ... YAY! I'll be able to catch up with the writing. **

**I do have a few (or more) ideas for this fic. Some interesting things in my opinion. **

**I'll see you in about one week and Happy Easter to those who celebrate it this Sunday!!**

**Dana**

**--**

"B down in 5." Meredith read Derek's text and shut the phone smiling. She grabbed the bottle of water and the casserole with food from table and stood up in the same that her friends were coming to join her.

"Where are you going?" Alex asked her curious almost knocked down by Meredith's hurry.

"Not now!" Meredith replied hurried, running towards the exit.

"Destination McDreamy." Izzie giggled realizing the reason for Meredith's hurry.

Meredith took the stairs to get down in basement in time. Entering the long deserted hall, Meredith smiled as she saw Derek sitting on their regular gurney.

"You were fast." Derek looked at her surprised when he heard her approaching. He hopped down from gurney to greet her.

"I was hoping you would call for me." Meredith giggled taking the hand that Derek had offered her. She put her drink and food on the gurney and wrapped her arms around Derek.

"Did you miss me that much?" Derek asked softly to her ear tightening his arms around her.

"No" Meredith mumbled shaking slowly her head. She put her head on his chest and closed her eyes. "But I think I became addicted to you."

Derek laughed. "That's wonderful then! I am a great addiction."

"Mhmm" Meredith mumbled amused and pulled herself back from his embrace, without letting go his hands. She stood up on tiptoes and kissed him softly on lips.  
Derek answered with a more passionate kiss, brining her body close to his again. Holding her face between his palms, he pulled his lips away from hers and smiled staring at her. His finger pressed along her lips and kissed her softer this time. "Come" He said releasing one of her hands and leading her to sit on gurney.

Meredith noticed then that Derek had no food with him. "Aren't you eating anything?" She asked him.

His smile lost from his excitement as he sighed and shook his head. "I can't stay long with you. That's why I asked you to come here fast. I have to scrub in soon."

"Oh" Meredith sighed disappointed. She hopped up on gurney and Derek joined her. "Then I am happy I came faster." She smiled slightly at him.

Derek smiled and brushed her cheek with the back of his hand. "Mark invited us to dinner this evening. Apparently, he and Angela had… a thing." Derek told her into a lighter tone. You're working tonight aren't you?"

"Yeah" Meredith nodded. "So this is why he disappeared for so long, huh?" She asked smiling. Derek answered with a nod. Meredith checked on him from the corner of her eyes.

"What is it?" Derek laughed amused at the way she was trying to hide her glances.

Meredith smiled sheepishly at him and then looked down at her hands. "Are you going to be ok… you know… with Angela and …" She trailed off not knowing how to mention about pregnancy without making Derek regret that he had to wait for his turn of becoming father.

Derek chuckled and leaned to her to kiss her on cheek. "Mark is my best friend, so I can't avoid him for the rest of my life. I am going to be fine and please stop worrying about me." He spoke gently. "I am going to be the best uncle for his baby." He said sneaking an arm around her waist.

Meredith shifted leaned to his body, resting her head on his shoulder. "Behave yourself tonight."

"Of course I will." Derek laughed. "Are you afraid that I might get drunk and pick up a waitress to take her home with me and make love with her thinking that it's you?" He asked jokingly.

Meredith sniffed smiling and hit him lightly with her fist. "That's exactly what I am afraid of."

Derek took her chin between his finger and lifter her face to him. "That's never going to happen." He assured her smiling his dreamy smile.

Meredith stared at him smiling for a few seconds and then mounted on his lap. She crossed her legs behind his waist, hung on his neck pressing her body on his and traced the line of his lips with her tongue. She kissed him softly, then nipped his bottom lip and forced his mouth to open. She kissed him passionate, her tongue invading entirely his mouth without giving him the chance to respond or fight against it. As her kiss became more feverish, she could feel the bulge growing in his scrub pants, pushing against her thighs. Just then she broke the kiss and pulled away. She wiped his lips with her finger smiling. "God I'm good!" She giggled proud of her work.

"You are evil" Derek took her head between his hands and crushed his lips on hers for a quick kiss.

Meredith laughed and dismounted him. "Now watch your words attitude mister or I can torture you even worse." She threatened him grinning as her hand moved toward his bulge. Derek guessed her intention and caught her wrist. "Please allow me to save someone's life."

Meredith smiled and gave her up on her threat. Derek hopped down of gurney and looked back at Meredith. He stroked gently her cheek with his fingers. "I'll see you later."

Meredith nodded and watched him leaving. She sighed resigned and took her food. Probably her friends didn't like her run away, so she decided it would be better to stay there and eat alone.

"Derek" Mark shouted waving one hand in air to get Derek's attention on his table.  
Derek scanned the crowded restaurant after his friend's voice and smiled as he spotted him and Angela not very far from the entrance.

"Thanks for coming, Derek!" Mark stood up greeting him very cheerful. He patted his back with excitement and pointed to the chair across the table.

"Mark!" Derek saluted him smiling and then looked at Angela. "Hello Angela!" He would have said more to her, but the tight low-cut caught his attention. It wasn't the generous bust that made him gaze at her like that; it was her visible baby bump. He had never asked Mark how far her pregnancy was, but he was surprised of how big it looked.

"Hello Derek!" Angela greeted him smiling charming at him. "It's nice to see you again."

Derek shook his head discreetly not wishing to make his stare notice by his friend or Angela and took his seat across them. "It's good to see you too, Angela! You look great." He complimented her with admiration. She was indeed a beautiful woman; with her golden curly hair and the delicate features of her face.

"Thank you!" Angela smiled wheedled.

"I hope I wasn't late!" An unknown female voice joined them at table. Derek looked up at tall blonde girl, which looked younger than Angela, but much taller.

Derek looked confused at Mark and Angela, who seemed to know that girl. "Caty, you came!" Angela stood up squealing and hugged that girl. "This Caty, my little sister." Angela introduced her to Derek. "Caty, this Mark's friend. Derek Shepherd."

Derek stood up gallant and shook Caty's hand, smiling politely at her. "Hello Caty!"

Caty's blue eyes sparkled. "So you are Derek!" She scanned him with excitement, obviously delighted by the view. She held his hand longer than necessary, gripping it when Derek tried to pull it back. Caty finally let go his hand and sat down on the chair beside Derek.

Derek glared Mark thinking that he might have something to do with the unexpected appearance of Angela's sister. But same as Derek, Mark was shocked to see the excitement and familiarity that Caty showed to Derek and shook his head at Derek's glare.

Suddenly, Caty wrapped her hand around Derek's arm and leaned to him dangerously close. "Happy birthday, Derek!" She said holding up a small wrapped box.

Somehow, Derek knew that the dinner would be extremely unpleasant.

Derek stared at the red paper wrapped around the rectangular box in disbelief. "See? It's wrapped in red… your favorite color." Catty giggled; a giggle that sounded annoying and irritating to Derek.

Her horrible giggle made Derek snap at her nervous. "It's not my favorite color!"

Catty wasn't able to reply immediately and stared at him with a shocked expression on her face. "I told her that not everybody likes the red like she does." Angela laughed forced to save her sister from that embarrassing moment.

Saved by her sister's intervention, Catty recovered her cheerful mood and seemed to be ignoring Derek's nervous burst. Because Derek hadn't taken the box from her hand, Caty dropped it in his and then hung on his arm. "Open it!" She urged him.

Still believing that Mark had something to do with Catty's presence at their dinner, Derek glared towards his friend. But Mark looked at him honestly apologetically, which led Derek to think that Angela was the one involved in whatever plan her sister and she were having.

"Thank you but… you shouldn't have." Derek replied dryly, just forcing a small smile.

Catty laughed foolishly. "It was my pleasure! Now go on! Open it!" She urged him again.

Reluctantly, Derek ripped the paper and revealed a navy blue box looking like an expensive gift. He opened it and his eyes grew huge as he saw a white golden Rolex. Like Derek, Mark was stunned as well.

Derek tried to compose himself and find the right reaction to that unexpected gift. "Uh… I don't want to sound rude… I would lie if I say that I don't like your gift, but why… why did you have to offer me something so expensive? Why did you have to offer me anything in the first place? You don't know me at all."

Catty pulled away from his arm laughing and took one of his hands. "Firstly, because I can afford it and secondly, because I heard many nice things about you. I feel like I already know you."

Derek shook his hand from hers with an aggressive gesture, being already annoyed by her gestures, especially by her high annoying laugh. "Thank you, but you shouldn't have!" He replied dryly, closing back the box.

"What are you doing?" Catty jumped whimpering and taking the box from his hand. She opened it and took out the watch. "Put it on!"

Derek groaned silently and only Mark noticed the efforts he was doing to preserve his calm and good manners. "I already have one now…" He said showing the watch he was carrying at the left hand. "I am sure it fits nice, but now I am not dressed properly." To change the topic faster, Derek took one of the menus from table. He had been hungry, but his appetite died once he met Catty. "Meredith apologizes for not making to this dinner." He said into a casual conversation looking at Mark and Angela. "Because I kidnapped her for me this weekend, she lost some hours of work." Derek thought that maybe mentioning Meredith would make Catty stop with her flirty gestures.

Mark seemed to have gotten his hint, because he went along with it. "That's right! You didn't have the chance to tell me too much about your weekend, though I should be offended because you didn't use my present."

Derek laughed already lightened up by the new topic. "Oh we did use it!" He grinned suggestively at Mark. "But it's… more comfortable when you feel free."

Mark laughed shaking his head. "You two really found each other. The most boring couple, seriously."

"We like it like this." Derek replied acting offended.

Mark chuckled. "I'm glad that Addison sent you here, man!" He told him, this time very honest and like he really meant it.

"Me too." Derek nodded smiling. "I didn't believe that something that … painful can lead me to something … this sweet."

Mark smiled making a grimace. "Stop it, man! You're becoming disgusting."

"That's love, Mark. That's love!" Derek said smiling at him.

"Now this is just rude of you." Catty pouted folding her arms across her chest. "To leave us out of your conversation."

"Sorry!" Mark replied grinning. "He gets carried away when he speaks about his girlfriend." Angela had wrapped her arm around his, and as he made that comment, she pinched him lightly. That made Mark realized that she had planned Catty's presence at their dinner.

Catty rolled her eyes smiling and ignored the Meredith topic. "So I heard, Derek…" She started paying all her attention to Derek again. "You like the babies. So do I! Honestly, I can't wait for Angie to give birth to that baby so I can spoil it. It might take some time until I will have my own, because…" she sighed looking depressed "… I haven't found the man that wants the same thing as me."

Derek had listened to her stunned and outraged. "I notice that you have heard many things about me." He said.

Catty smiled visibly embarrassed.

"Are you ready to order?" A young waiter came interrupting them.

Derek let the others order first and when his turn came, he just shook his head. "No thank you, I am not hungry anymore!"

"Oh come on, Der!" Catty whined taking his hand again.

This gesture made Derek to boil of anger. He jerked his hand from hers and stood up. "I lost my appetite. It was nice seeing you again, Angela!" He smiled at her. "It was… nice to meet you!" He said that looking at Catty.

"I'll walk you to your car." Mark stood up as well, without even trying to convince him to stay. "I'm so sorry, man! I really didn't know that this would happen." Mark confessed with sincerity.

"I know." Derek patted Mark's back as friendly gesture. "You should talk to Angela about this sister of hers."

"Man, she was ready to rape you in there." Mark laughed.

Derek laughed too shaking his head. "Next time leave Angela at home."

"Definitely." Mark assured him. "Just the two of us at Joe tomorrow?"

"Sounds great." Derek agreed.

"So where to now? Are you going to have some… Meredith?" Mark laughed.

"She is working, Mark!" Derek laughed.

"Oh so she is your next stop."

"Actually the hospital is." Derek replied. "It's true that Meredith happens to be there too, but… I'll just go hang around. I don't feel like going home now."

"Have fun, my friend!" Mark smirked patting his shoulder. "Again, I am sorry for… Catty!"

"That's ok" Derek nodded and said his goodbye from Mark. He got in his car and drove away back to hospital.


	64. Can we have sex tonight?

After a restless night without Meredith, Derek decided to leave the bed before the alarm went on. It was still early for him to leave to hospital and too early to go see Meredith since she hadn't finished her shift yet, so Derek took his time, showering, making himself some coffee.

When Derek arrived at hospital, the place was quiet considering the early hour, though he was almost sure that it hadn't looked like that a few hours ago. Carrying a bag with fresh puff pastries and a cup of tea for Meredith and one of coffee for himself, Derek walked straight towards the elevators heading upstairs on the surgical floor. The door was about to close, when a hand stopped it and a tall black man stepped inside.

"Good morning." The man smiled at Derek as he saluted him in a very polite manner and walked in the opposite side of the elevator.

"Morning." Derek replied smiling politely at him.

They rode in silence and both of them got off the elevator at the same floor. Derek smiled again at that man as goodbye and walked straight to the nurses' station, where a young sleepy nurse was playing with her mobile phone. "Morning." Derek leaned over the counter smiling cheerful at the nurse, who immediately blushed and hided the phone under the counter.

"Good morning, Dr. Shepherd." She smiled giggling at him. "You are very early this morning." She pointed out, more relaxed now and tried to lean over the counter with a flirty gesture.

Derek chuckled guessing her intention and pulled himself back from the counter. He didn't need another Catty in that moment.

The nurse made a step backward too visibly embarrassed. "May I help you with something?" She asked him very professional, avoiding as much as possible any eye contact with him.

"I'm looking for Dr. Grey." Derek spoke relaxed, kind of feeling pity for the embarrassment he had caused to the young nurse.

"I haven't seen her around here for almost an hour. I'm not sure if she still on this floor." She replied.

Derek nodded a little disappointed, hoping that it wouldn't take him long to find her. "Thanks" He smiled and turned around to walk away.

As he did that, Derek bumped in the man who had ridden the elevator with him earlier. "Sorry." He smiled apologetically at Derek and passed past him to go to the counter. "Good morning." The man saluted the nurse. "I'm looking for Dr. Bailey."

"Dr. Bailey is off duty, but I can page the on call resident if you need help." The nurse offered.

The man shook his head smiling at her. "I'm her husband. I came to give her a ride home."

Derek overheard the man's answer and suddenly changed his track, returning to the nurses' station. "Excuse me." He interfered, looking with interest at the man who had introduced himself as Bailey's husband. "Are you Mr. Bailey?" Derek asked him.

The man nodded staring at him slightly confused.

"Oh." Derek chuckled as he realized the reason for Mr. Bailey's confusion. "I'm Derek Shepherd." He introduced himself holding out his hand.

Mr. Bailey nodded smiling again and shook his hand. "The neurosurgeon." Obviously, Miranda had informed her husband about the staff she worked with.

Derek smiled pleasantly surprised. "Indeed."

Mr. Bailey smiled. "I assume you are looking for … your girlfriend?" He asked him looking at Derek's package.

"Yes." Derek answered. "She is actually your wife's intern. Maybe we'll find them together."

Mr. Bailey lifted his brows as if something surprised them, but nodded and agreed to walk with Derek to find them. "I thought that…" He spoke hesitantly as they walked down the hall with a slow pace. Derek looked at him interested of what Mr. Bailey was going to say. "Don't take me wrong. I am not judging or anything…" Mr. Bailey continued, smiling apologetically at Derek. "Isn't against the rules to have a personal relationship with your superiors?"

Derek understood where he was heading with his questions and smiled. "It's not."

"Oh" Mr. Bailey seemed surprised to hear the answer. "That's great then." He trailed off. "Is it easier for the pair to be in the same field at work?"

"In our case, when we don't get to spend too much time at home, it is." Derek answered.

Mr. Bailey sighed and then smiled at Derek. "Now I've started to regret that I didn't choose a career in medicine."

Derek was slightly confused to hear him talking like that. He sounded comforted with his situation but in the same time, he made it sound like he and Miranda were having troubles with their marriage. "It's not that bad." Mr. Bailey chuckled as he guessed Derek's thoughts. "But it could have been easier."

Derek smiled sympathetically at him and continued their search with a short silence. "Do you mind if I ask you… what's your profession?" Derek asked him hesitant.

"I don't mind." Mr. Bailey laughed as relaxed as before. "I work for a communication enterprise as sales manager."

"That sounds… interesting." Derek shamefully tried to look and sound impressed.

Mr. Bailey laughed with amusement. "That's ok. I know it's not that impressive as saving lives but I like what I am doing. Plus…" He paused smiling at Derek. "Someone has to have a little more free time for the family."

Derek found the opportunity of doing some conversation with Mr. Bailey over his job, now more interested in finding out about it. But as he was about to speak, Derek noticed that Mr. Bailey had stopped smiling at someone in front of them. Following his look, Derek saw Miranda, holding her arms folded across her chest, glaring at them.

"I hope you two weren't gossiping about me." She sounded threatening, still glaring at them.

Mr. Bailey chuckled and walked over to her, leaning down to kiss her on cheek. "We were about to." He confessed. "How are you feeling?" He asked her, slowly making circles over her tummy.

"Tired." She replied grumbling and slapped his hand.

"And cranky." Mr. Bailey rolled his eyes smiling.

Derek had stayed aside, giving them some privacy, but Mr. Bailey's gesture when he rubbed Miranda's tummy, caught him by surprise. "Are you pregnant?" He asked her, staring at her in awe.

"No" She grumbled.

"Four months already." In a better spirit than his wife, Mr. Bailey admitted.

"Congratulations… I suppose." Derek smiled confused, not understanding very well her reaction.

"Don't you even dare to take it easier with me from now on." Miranda warned him.

"Does anyone know in this hospital know you are pregnant?" Mr. Bailey left aside his good mood, to look reproachful at his wife.

Miranda looked up him, one eyebrow lifted. "Derek Shepherd knows now."

Mr. Bailey sighed shaking his head disapprovingly. "You are so difficult sometimes."

Derek didn't say anything more and a short awkward silence fell over them. "Let's save the awkwardness…" Miranda spoke first. "You might find her downstairs." She looked at Derek, obviously referring at Meredith. "Send her home for some sleep."

"Take her home for some sleep." Derek chuckled, looking at Mr. Bailey.

"It was nice meeting." Mr. Bailey shook Derek's hand.

"Congratulations." Derek leaned a little towards him, whispering.

"Thanks." Mr. Bailey chuckled.

"Sleep well, Dr. Bailey." Derek saluted Miranda, very cheerful and hurried to walk away before she could reply and say something nasty.

--  
Now Derek knew where he could find Meredith. He headed down in basement, the regular place where Meredith used to retire whenever she was upset or tired.  
She was indeed down there, laid on a gurney, looking asleep. Derek walked over to her in silence and put aside the packages he was carrying. He leaned over her and kissed her softly on lips. "Let me take you to your comfortable bed from home." Derek whispered, gently smoothing her hair.

Meredith opened her eyes slowly and smiled at him. "I can't wait." She muttered sleepy and stood upright with Derek's help.

Derek hopped up next to her on gurney and took the bag with pastries he had brought for Meredith. "Fresh and still warm." He grinned at her as he handed her the bag.

"Thanks." Meredith replied yawning and took the bag from him. She opened the bag, lazy and sleepy, but as the fresh smell hit her nostrils, Meredith looked at Derek smirking.

"I knew you are going to appreciate me for this." Derek grinned smugly.

"I appreciate the gesture." Meredith replied teasing.

Derek chuckled and leaned to her, placing his arm behind her and kissed her on forehead. "I know deep down you have a thing for me." He whispered. Meredith shrugged from his arm and glared at him with a flirty smile spread across her lips. "So how was your night?" Derek laughed.

Meredith shrugged and let out a disappointed sigh as she leaned back in his arms.

"Oh come on, it couldn't be that bad." Derek retorted amused by her reaction.

"It was boring." Meredith stated with disinterest and took a pastry from the bag.

"No surgeries?" Derek asked her, showing in the tone of his voice a sincere pity for her.

Meredith nodded, mouthful and stuffed another pastry in her mouth. "Two surgeries." She muttered, still more focused on Derek's snack than on him.

"You might want to take a sip from this." Derek said, amused by the appetite she was having and handed her the cup of tea he had brought especially for her. Meredith took it for him and took a large sip. "Ok now try and breathe." Derek laughed. "And tell me how come it was boring if you assisted to two surgeries?"

"I didn't get any sex so…" Meredith replied looking for another pastry to eat.

"Ok" Derek laughed feeling even more smugly now.

Meredith just smiled and rolled her eyes at his self-confidence. "What are you doing here so early anyway?" She asked him.

Derek shrugged acting casual as he spoke. "Sex-deprivation ruined my night too so… here I am." He glanced at Meredith with a crooked smile spread across his lips.

Meredith pursed her lips and lifted her head to reach to his lips. As her lips touched his, Derek took her head between his hands and pulled her for a passionate kiss. The kiss continued till Meredith dropped the bag and clutched her hands in his hair. Left breathless, both of them pulled apart, but their faces remained close smiling at each other. Derek brushed her hair out of her face and leaned to kiss her softly on lips.

"I have this feeling that you want to catch up what you missed last night." Meredith breathed against his lips smiling at him.

"And you don't want it?" Derek asked her with a suggestive smirk as he ran his hand slowly down on her back.

Meredith shivered at the feeling of his soft touched and giggled childishly. She grabbed him by his jacket and lay down on her back pulling him down with her too.

"Here?" Derek chuckled referring at the location that Meredith had chosen for their sex catch up.

"Yes." Meredith answered eagerly and crushed her lips on his.

Derek carefully lay on top of her, cupping her cheek with his hand, his lips tracing the line of her jaw and lips. Meredith moaned as her fingers clutched in his hair again and sat on her back more comfortable, parting her legs.

"Let's find … a closet at least." Derek whispered breathlessly.

"Mhm." Meredith agreed in the same breathless tone as Derek, but her hands fell lower on his neck and slipped down on his chest, swiftly pushing his jacket off his shoulders.

"Naughty." Derek chuckled as he helped her take off his jacket.

"Mhm" Meredith agreed, unwilling to make conversation. Something else was on her mind at that moment; something that involved the tongue but not for speaking.

"We are going to be so sorry for this." Derek laughed as he realized that there was no chance to take Meredith from there and continue some place else. He gave in and slid his hand under her scrub top. Her skin felt so soft and so hot that his mind was wrapped around one single thing… how to get into her pants faster.

Then Meredith glanced over Derek's shoulder and caught someone's shadow running around the corner. Meredith gasped and jumped upright pushing Derek away from her. "Someone saw us." She muttered, fearful.

"How do you know?" Derek asked her, confused and screwed by the sudden ending of their intimacy.

"I saw someone running back around the corner." Meredith threw her legs over the gurney and hopped up on her feet. She gathered her messy hair still scanning the surrounding with her eyes trying to see if anyone was still there. "This is bad." She muttered and let out a sigh.

"It is bad indeed." Derek sighed as he picked up the sloshed bag with pastries. They were obviously referring at different things.

"If Richard finds…" Meredith added as she turned toward Derek. Then she saw what he was talking about. "You sloshed my breakfast!" She yelled and grabbed the back from Derek.

"Not guilty." Derek stated in his own defense. "You forced me!" He protested accusingly.

"You seduced me." Meredith retorted in the same accusatory manner. "And now my breakfast is ruined." She cried out as she peeked in the bag again.

Derek softened his attitude and hopped up too. He walked over to Meredith and put his arm around her. "Let me take you home and I'll make something to eat for you."

Meredith looked up at him and smiled sheepishly. "You don't want to go on with…" She stopped hesitating.

"Do you want to?" Derek asked her. That was their second failed attempt of having sex in less than 24 hours and he wasn't very pleased with it, but he wasn't going to force her. The exhaustion was written in her face features, though earlier she had showed desire.

Meredith bit her lip hesitating.

"Let's go home." Derek chuckled.

They left the hospital hand in hand, Meredith cautiously checking the people they were passing by, maybe she would caught a knowingly stare. Derek walked her to his car and opened the door for her. As Meredith slid in, Derek shut the door and walked over to the other side of the car, getting in on the driver seat.

"Can I ask you something?" Meredith asked while she fastened her seatbelt.

"Sure." Derek looked at her, curious.

"Will you be honest?" Meredith asked him, the tone of her voice sounding casual.

"Of course." Derek was ready to snap irritated. For a reason he didn't like Meredith's questions.

"Are you alright?" She asked him.

"Yes, I am. Now ask me whatever you wanted to ask me." Derek asked her as he became more tensed.

Meredith narrowed her eyes, curiously staring at him. "That's what I wanted to ask you." She muttered. "Now why are you so… stressed?"

"I am not stressed." Derek suddenly became wary.

Meredith continued to stare at him with discredit. "Let's go!" She frowned and leaned against her seat, folding her arm across her chest and glaring out the windshield.

Derek started the ignition and after he drove away, he looked to take Meredith's hand. Meredith allowed him to take it and kiss it without looking away from the windshield.

"Mark returned to hospital shortly after you left last evening." Meredith grumbled, still not looking toward Derek.

Derek sighed discreetly, knowing where Meredith was heading with that. "Did he?" He asked, curious.

"Yes." Meredith replied sharply and turned to glare at Derek.

Intimidated by her glare, Derek lost the coherency of his thoughts and stammered. "He said he wanted to come back to hospital."

"Though Angela was feeling sick?" Meredith asked raising her eyebrows.

Derek briefly closed his eyes, cursing himself.

"Derek, what the hell happened last night?" Meredith lost her patience and snapped at him.

"Nothing." Derek answered simply.

"You are lying to me? Why?" Meredith snapped again. "So you slipped away… ok… we can work that out… somehow, just don't …. Don't like to me, Derek."

"I didn't slip away." Derek glanced at her scared by her susceptibility. "I swear."

"Then what happened? It's obvious that you didn't even have time to eat the dinner." Meredith asked, calmer.

"They argued." He muttered, again guilty for saying another lie, but their relationship was too perfect at that moment and the small incident with Catty shouldn't interfere between them. He was going to ask an explanation to Mark for Catty's presence at their dinner and especially for her behavior. Because he still could feel Meredith's intensive gaze on him, Derek looked at her with an apologetically look. "I'm going to tell you about everything it as soon as I am sure of what exactly happened." Then he stopped at the red light, so he could relax and leaned to Meredith. "I love you." He whispered to her ear and kissed her on cheek. Before he returned upright in his seat, Derek brushed her cheek with the back of his hand.

She believed him. She trusted him. She was going to wait for his explanation.

"Can we have sex tonight?" Derek glanced at her begging.

Meredith giggled and nodded.


	65. Witnesses

When Derek dropped Meredith at home, she was almost asleep, so all Derek had to do was to make sure that she would get in bed. He got in the car and drove back to hospital.

Derek had just got out of the car and locked the door, when a sudden appearance stopped in front of him, making him flinch. "Catty." He breathed out as if he had seen a ghost. That was definitely an appearance he hadn't anticipated.

"Hey there." She grinned swaying back and forth on her heels, her hands tied to back.

The shock of having Catty in front of his eyes again and in such an unexpected place, started fading and suddenly the fear swept through his mind, realizing what a sick-minded person this Catty was and how lucky he was for not having Meredith at hospital at that moment. "What are you doing here?" He snapped with a sharp tone at her.

Catty rolled her eyes smiling. Then she brought her hand in front, holding out the present she had brought for Derek the previous day. "You forgot to take this last night." She said.

Derek stared outrage at the box from her hand and then at her. "You are a sick person, did you know that?"

"Why?" Catty frowned offended.

"Because I don't need a birthday present from a person I don't know and _I do not like_." He said emphasizing his last words trying helping her understand.

"But you know me now." Catty replied with the same relaxed grin she had showed up with.

"But I don't want to know you… at all." Derek retorted, copying the tone of her voice with sarcasm.

"And why wouldn't you?" Catty laughed.

"Because you seem … no, actually you are very impertinent." Derek cut her off with the same sharp tone in his voice.

"Now you are not such a gentleman." Catty frowned.

Derek raised his eyebrows in disgust, unimpressed by her offended attitude. "Why did you come to our dinner anyway?"

Catty sighed and returned to her previous relaxed attitude. "I was single and my sister told me that your… wouldn't come so…" She paused making a small grimace, skipping forward without pronouncing Meredith's name or the word 'girlfriend'.

"Girlfriend." Derek interjected, pronouncing the word emphasized.

"Whatever." Catty rolled her eyes. Then she caught Derek off guard as she pushed herself into him, sending him propped against his car. She leaned her body against him and breathed in his face. "You're not married, are you?" She asked him. "So why are you tying yourself on one person when you can have much more fun?" Catty added before Derek could say anything.

"I tie myself to whomever I want." Derek grabbed her wrists and pushed her away from him. "Are you even aware of the fact that you are harassing me in a public place?" He asked her, indignant, pointing out the fact that they were still in the parking lot of the hospital. Though the place wasn't very crowded yet, Derek couldn't help but worry about being seen by someone.

"I know a place where we can go." Catty raised her eyebrows suggestively and tried to lean on him again.

Derek kept her to distance and chuckled with sarcasm. "I know a place where you can go." He said and then pushed her away from him again. "To a psychiatrist. We have good ones here."

Catty giggled with a shake from her head. "Fine, I am leaving now." She said and then, in a sudden, she was back on Derek, her lips almost touching his. "Though, you shouldn't limit yourself to one person. Have fun while you still can." Before Derek could reply, she stepped back and dropped her present for Derek in his hands. "I'll see you around, Derek!" She shouted and waved back to him.

Derek watched her leaving, outraged and disgusted. He shook her off his mind and walked towards the hospital. He had just thrown Catty's present to a trashcan when a strong hand clutched on his jacket, pushing him, almost making him lose his stability on his feet.

Alex's face was red of anger, lines of veins looking ready to blow out on his temple. "Who the hell was that?" He snapped in a quiet but terrifying voice. "She didn't seem to be Meredith the one who was leaning against you."

Scared of Alex's brutal greeting, with his thoughts wandering at Catty's strange behavior, Derek slowly composed himself. He took Alex's wrist, which were iron on his jacket, and tried to loose them. But Alex's grip was firm, iron-like and at Derek's attempt to escape it, it shook him lightly.

"Alex" Derek tried to keep his voice friendly, prove him that he wasn't feeling guilty of anything and he shouldn't get that fired up of what he just saw.

"Who?" Alex shook him again with the same anger in his tone.

"Can you at least let me breathe so that I can explain?" Derek pushed him away, successfully this time thanked to the irritation that Alex's constant aggressiveness made him feel. He wasn't guilty of anything and yet he didn't have the chance to explain the situation. He should have talked about this to Meredith, he thought.

Alex finally managed to control himself and took a deep breath before releasing Derek from his grip. "Explain and you better explain it right."

"She's um…" Unfortunately for him, Derek couldn't find the right words right away. Alex glared at him warningly. Derek sighed in attempt to calm himself down. "She showed up to our dinner last night. She is Angela's sister." He explained. "And she's… I don't know who she is and what does she want from me exactly, so… I don't have any explanation." Derek added with irritation. "Now please let me pass and allow me to go find Mark so that I can provide you an explanation." Beside his moments with Meredith from the same morning, Derek's day had started very bad. He was no longer in the mood to accept glares from Alex or Catty's maniac behavior. His life had been incredibly amazing lately and he wouldn't allow anything or anyone to ruin it.

"I'll tell Meredith about it!" Alex shouted as Derek walked past him.

Derek stopped and paused for a moment only as he turned to look at Alex. "I would rather tell her myself but if this is what you wish… do it." He wasn't guilty of anything, he kept telling himself.

Alex remained still in the spot, watching as Derek walked inside the hospital. Though he didn't like what he had seen, Alex could see that Derek was in a shitty situation, and not by his own doing.

"He's cheating her on her, isn't he?" Alex wasn't the only witness at Catty's harassment. Jim came behind Alex, closely followed by Izzie, Cristina and George. Some sort of satisfaction had been obvious in Jim's voice.

"I hope not." Alex mumbled as he turned towards his friend. He took Izzie's hand and pulled her beside him. "I hope he is not." He muttered under his breath and kissed Izzie on cheek.

"You can only hope because I think he is." Jim shook his head, the same content smile was still on his lips. "Are you going to tell Meredith about this?" He asked him.

"No. Not yet." Alex answered.

"I'll tell her then." Jim retorted and started walking again.

"Don't you dare!" Alex shouted after him.

Jim stopped and turned around on his heels. "She has to know about this. She can't continue being lied like this." This time, Jim's words were serious. "We are her friends."

"We don't know for sure if what we've seen is true." Alex replied.

"Alex, she was almost riding him right in the middle of parking lot." Izzie interfered.

"That's right. _She_ was riding him." Alex came in Derek's defense. "Besides, Derek isn't that stupid to make out in the parking lot with another woman, precisely were his girlfriend works." He added. "At least I hope he's not." He also muttered under his breath.

"If Alex gives him some credit, then I am too." George muttered.

"Who asked you?" Jim made a grimace as he glared at George. "Anyway, I knew that guy couldn't be trusted. Meredith deserves so much better than this ass…" His words were cut off by Alex, who passing past him, pushed him out of his way.

"You are a bigger one than him. Let's go to work and don't dare tell Meredith anything about this." Alex warned him.

Jim sniffed and hurried to keep the pace with the others. "I'm a big boy, Alex. I am a big boy!" Jim chuckled patting Alex's shoulder. "You don't scare me."

Alex just rolled his eyes, shaking his head disapprovingly.


	66. She's a stalker

The phone started ringing again as Meredith pulled her car in the hospital's parking lot. Exasperated, Meredith took it from the passenger seat and looked at the ID's caller. "Seriously." She muttered under breath and flipped the phone open. "Yes, Derek. I'm here already!" Meredith hardly controlled the tone of her voice not to yell at him.

"Sorry." Derek spat back. "I was … you know what, I'll see you inside." And then, to Meredith's exasperation the line went dead.

She unfastened the seatbelt, grabbed her back and got out of the car, hurrying towards the entrance to see why Derek was so impatient to see her. Before the elevator's doors could close, Richard stepped inside, smiling as he noticed Meredith in there.

"Oh hello, Meredith… I mean, Dr. Grey!" He greeted her.

"Hello, Dr. Weber… Richard." Meredith smiled back.

Richard stopped beside her and both rode in silence for a few moments. Meredith glanced at him from the corner of her eyes and knew he had something to tell her; something personal judging his anxious attitude. "Is everything alright?" She finally decided to ask.

"Yeah," Richard answered right away. "Why wouldn't I be?" He smiled nervously.

"Just asking." Meredith shrugged.

She wasn't really that interested to find out, but Richard was, as he turned to look at her. "Listen…" He hesitated, visibly uncomfortable with whatever he wanted to tell her. "You should call your mother."

"Why?" Meredith asked him simply.

"Because she's your mother, Meredith; and she has been very… very thrilled of the fact that you called on her birthday. You should call her. One of you has to make the first step." It was obvious to Meredith that it was Richard's wish for the two of them have a mother-daughter relationship.

Meredith smiled with a slight sympathy. "A first step to what?" She asked him, without sounding rude. "We never really had a relationship and … at this age… I don't know how I'm supposed to build a relationship with my mother." She explained.

"This shouldn't have gotten this difficult." Richard shook his head with disappointment.

"It's not your fault, Richard." Meredith turned toward him, smiling apologetically. "I appreciate your … your efforts, but I'm helpless. I don't know what to do. I don't know what I did wrong in the first place."

Richard pressed his strong hand on her shoulder and leaned in to kiss her on forehead. "We'll find a solution," He whispered. "Because it's not supposed to be like this." Richard stepped back and turned facing the doors again, while Meredith stared at him confused.

The doors opened at the floor where the intern's locker room was and Meredith stepped outside. Because there weren't passengers to get in the elevator, Richard made a step ahead holding the doors opened and grabbed Meredith's arm, stopping her.

Meredith turned to look at him curious. "Meredith, I know you since you were a little child. You grew up under my eyes." Richard told her with a fatherly tone. "Seeing you making out with a man on the halls of a hospital is not something I want to see." Meredith flushed bright red as she realized that Richard was the one who saw her and Derek early that morning in the basement. "I was serious when I said I don't want to see you two in that kind of … position. Be wise, Meredith and tell that to Derek too." As he said that, Richard took the step back and the door closed.

Meredith stared at the elevator for another moment, while she tried to make the embarrassment pass and she succeeded as Derek paged her. "What's wrong with you?" She groaned and started running towards the locker room to get dressed for work.

Meredith could not believe her eyes when the elevator stopped at the surgical floor. Derek was leaning against the counter from the nurses' station, and looked away quickly from the elevators as he saw Meredith coming. He looked down to the file he was holding, pretending to read it.

Meredith let out a sigh and walked towards him. Derek looked up from his file and pretended to see Meredith for the first time, though his acting was cheap and didn't trick Meredith. He started walking and met Meredith halfway.

"Hey." He whispered to her ear, very cheerful.

"Hey." Meredith giggled. Though his constant phone calls from the past two hours had driven her insane, Meredith still couldn't resist to his breath against her hair.

"Ok, now walk away from me fast and don't pay any attention to me anymore." Derek whispered.

Meredith looked at his with a mix of confusion and irritation. "What are you up to, Derek?"

"Shh…" Derek shushed her. "Just trust me." He whispered and made her a discreet gesture with his head to look at something. Meredith followed Derek's eyes and saw Bailey. She turned to Derek confused and realized he had returned to the nurses' station already, pretending to be reading from that file again. Confused by Derek's strange behavior, Meredith thought it was just a joke of his and decided to ignore him.

"Dr. Bailey." Meredith caught up with her resident.

"Dr. Grey." Bailey greeted her without picking her eyes up from the chart she was reading. She stopped and turned to Meredith. "Uh… you can go down to the pit."

Meredith complied without a whimper. As she turned to go back to the elevators, Meredith bumped into Derek. Derek caught her, holding her steady on her feet and winked at her.

"Dr. Bailey." He called after her. "I want Martin off the Petersen case." He said, sounding nervous.

"Why? What happened?" She asked him.

"First of all, I asked him for a scan two times and I still haven't received anything. I had to ask a nurse to do it. Besides, his bedside manners are absolutely disgusting and Mr. Petersen is not in the condition to stand Dr. Martin's little jokes." Derek complained.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Shepherd," Bailey shook her head apologetically. "Betty," She called one of the nurses from behind the counter. "Page Dr. Martin for me please!"

"Sure, Dr. Bailey." The nurse agreed while she picked up the phone.

"I'm going to talk to the Chief too about him." Bailey assured Derek.

"Dr. Bailey." Derek stopped her as Bailey had turned to walk away. "I still need an intern to prepare the patient for surgery and assist me." He told her.

Bailey sighed and looked at Meredith. "Grey, you can go with Dr. Shepherd."

"Thank you, Dr. Bailey." Meredith smiled as she came to Derek's side. Bailey opened the mouth wishing to say something more, but in the end she just shot them a warning look.

As Bailey was out of their earshot, Meredith turned and glared at Derek. "You shouldn't have done that."

"Do what?" Derek asked her confused.

"Take Jim off the case. It's not professional, Derek!" Meredith spat at him.

Derek smiled crookedly at her. "I thought you would be happy to spend the afternoon with me." He pouted, faking upset. "Anyway, Martin really has to control his attitude if he wants to finish the residency in this hospital." Derek said, serious this time. "I think he's the unprofessional one here and you can check it by asking the nurses who are on Mr. Petersen's case."

"Ok, fine. I overreacted. Can we get to work now?" Meredith glared at him.

"This is Mr. Petersen's chart. Read it and then prepare the patient for surgery." Derek put a chart in Meredith's hands and leaned down to her ear. "I need to talk to you."

Meredith pulled away to look at him, worried. "About last night?" Derek answered with a nod. "Ok."

"Not here. Maybe after the surgery we can find a place private so that we can talk." He whispered.

"Oh, I think that's not possible." Meredith shook her head giggling as she remembered Richard's lecture. She leaned to him and whispered. "Richard saw us this morning and we are not allowed alone in hideouts anymore."

"Oh no." Derek sighed, disappointed. "He told you that?" Meredith nodded. "I guess we can find a quiet place so that talk."

"Is it that bad?" Meredith asked him.

Derek smiled at her and wrapping his hand around her arm, made her walk along with him. "I'm not sure, but it sure is stressful for me." Derek admitted. "Hey, didn't you say Mark was here last night?"

"Yes. The last time I saw him was a little before I fell asleep. You've got me worried now, Derek."

"You shouldn't be." Derek chuckled, hoping to lighten up her spirit a little. "Go do what I asked you to do and I'll see you in the OR in about 20 minutes."

Meredith nodded, uncertain and left to do what Derek asked of her. Derek sighed as Meredith was out of his sight and turned back to the nurses' station. When Derek looked up, he was surprised to bump into Mark.

"You're working with your girlfriend today, huh?" Mark gave him a smirk.

Derek sighed smiling. "I want have her close to me today."

"Weber and Bailey agreed so easily to give her to you?" Mark gasped as he came to a conclusion. "They locked all the on-call rooms!"

Derek laughed, shaking his head disapprovingly. "You're not very creative, Mark." Mark gave him an offended look. "I'm not going to tell you other places." Derek teased him. "Now back to our problem… what happened last night?" Mark sighed and his good mood vanished instantly. "And where have you been? You weren't at work the whole morning."

"I went to talk to Angela." Mark muttered. "Are you in the mood for a coffee?" He asked him, inviting him for a walk. Derek nodded and they started walking together toward the coffee cart. "Last night she said she wasn't feeling that good." Mark grumbled and looked at Derek. "She knew I was going to ask her about her sister. Today she started yelling me when I went to talk to her."

"She thought you were accusing her." Derek muttered.

"Yeah." Mark confirmed. "She became very defensive… very."

"You think there's something wrong with these two." Derek guessed the meaning of Mark's words.

Mark tightened his jaw as he glared in blank. "If that baby is not mine…"

"Calm down now." Derek patted sympathetically his shoulder. "We'll find out."

"What does Meredith think of this?" Mark asked him. Derek looked at him, guilty. "Why didn't you tell her yet?"

"I was hoping you would give me something so that I can explain to her." Derek said. "I'm keeping her with me today, because Alex saw Catty this morning."

"This morning?" Mark asked him, shocked.

Derek nodded. "She found me here, in the parking lot, right after I had dropped Meredith off at home."

"She's a stalker." Mark muttered, shocked by his conclusion. "You have to tell Meredith about her. You can't let her ruin your relationship."

"I will. Right after this surgery. I have to hurry now, so I'll catch up with you later." Derek said, walking away.

"Joe's tonight?" Mark shouted after.

"Yeah… we'll see!" Mark waved his hand in air as he answered.


	67. I'm sorry

After four hours in the OR, Derek ended his surgery successfully, assisted by Meredith. He asked Meredith to close up the patient for him, while he stayed behind, supervising her sutures.

"I thought you had more trust in my surgical skills." Meredith said as she and Derek stepped outside the OR.

They walked together over the sink and started scrubbing their hands. "I don't understand what you mean by that." Derek looked at her, confused. "Of course I trust in your skills."

Meredith looked at him incredulously. "I could have done those sutures without you watching over my shoulder."

"Oh," Derek chuckled, which thing irritated Meredith even more. "I'm sorry if my presence behind your back distracted you." Derek said, smiling at her. He looked around them and then leaned to Meredith's ear. "I thought my presence there would inspire you. We don't get too often to stay so close to each other in the OR."

Meredith giggled and elbowed him lightly. "Good thing that I didn't know the reason for your hovering," She said smiling. "That would have been even more distracting… and unethical. Your hands were free, but I was still holding surgical instruments in mine."

Derek chuckled. He grabbed a towel and leaned his back against the sink, wiping his hands. "I miss your presence in my surgeries."

Smiling at him, Meredith grabbed a towel and leaned her back against the sink beside Derek. "I miss you too." She said, smiling widely at him. Derek ran the back of his hand over her cheek. "See? That's why you can't enjoy my presence in the OR that much." She looked down at his hand. "Richard doesn't appreciate the public intimacy we show."

"Sorry," Derek muttered, hiding his hand behind his back. "Have you made any decision over the field you would like to follow in the future?" He asked her.

"Not yet." Meredith said with a sigh. "I would like to go for Neuro though." Derek smiled smugly at her. "But I won't." Meredith smiled, but shaking her head with disapproval. "You know…" She folded her arms across her chest and stared down at her shoes. "Ever since I started the Med School, I hated when people were calling me Ellis's Grey daughter or asking me about how my mother was doing. I want my own fame, for my own achievements. I don't want fame because I'm mommy's girl."

"Meredith," Derek put a finger under her chin and made her look at him. "You'll still get your own fame because of your mother," He chuckled as Meredith frowned "Because you have the skills from her." He added. "I know it sucks being Ellis's Grey daughter and Derek's Shepherd girlfriend because of the comments you get behind your back, but in the end you are going to end your internship and you are going to perform surgeries by yourself and just then people will see you as Dr. Meredith Grey. I know you hate the rumors over your last name or your private life, but I think you should take advantage of all these. There aren't many people who can learn from the best and don't have renowned surgeons as mother and boyfriend, so you should learn as much as you can from everyone. Care less about what the other interns and residents say about you, because in the end you're going to be the best."

"So every intern should sleep with an attending?" Meredith asked, looking at him slightly amused.

Derek chuckled. "That's right," He answered. "But not every intern can do it so you should consider yourself lucky."

"I should go write the post op notes for Mr. Petersen." Meredith smiled and pushed herself from the sink.

"I am done for today, but I'm going to stay with you so that we can go home together." Derek said.

"Ok." Meredith giggled, obviously thrilled with the idea.

As they were about to leave the room, Mark walked in. "Hey, how did it go?" He asked them in a hurry, not really wishing to know the answer for that question.

"We saved him." Derek answered.

"Oh ok. Uh… are you off now, Derek?" Mark asked him. "We could go have a drink."

"I'll see you at home." Meredith winked at Derek and passed past Mark, walking out the room.

Derek sighed, disappointed of not being able to stay longer with Meredith, but he knew he had promised to Mark they would go out together. "I still didn't tell her about Catty." Derek muttered under his breath.

"Karev left already, so don't worry about her. You can tell her when you get home." Mark grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the room. "I promise we won't meet any Catty tonight."

--

Meredith was almost done with Mr. Petersen's chart, when she felt somebody stopping beside her and leaning against the counter from the nurses' station. She looked up and saw Jim staring ahead blankly. "That was only your fault." Meredith said as she picked up with her writing.

"I know." Jim sighed, sounding depressed. "Weber warned my I could be excluded from this program if I don't revise my attitude." He said and looked down at Meredith. "I don't hate you, you know," Meredith looked at him, curious "For stealing my surgery." He added, smiling. "At least you had the chance to work with your boyfriend."

Meredith raised an eyebrow incredulously. "You don't like the idea of me and Derek together. You don't like Derek either."

"That's right. I don't like him." Jim admitted with a lightened tone.

"Alex didn't like him either at first," Meredith said. "He might still not like him, but at least he's doing his best to accept him."

"I don't want to accept him," Jim made a grimace as he said that. "Especially not after… not now." He quickly changed his words, giving Meredith just little hints of what he wanted to say.

"You should try." Meredith said, obviously not getting the real meaning of Jim's words. She finished with the writing and shut the chart. "I would like you to try, Jim." She told him and then walked away from the nurses' station.

Jim was right behind her, with a cheerful attitude, trying to look friendly and casual. "So who's this Catty?"

Meredith stopped for a moment and looked at him, puzzled. "Who?"

Jim pretended to be confused too. "Catty." He mumbled. "Didn't Derek tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Meredith asked him, even more confused now. "Who's Catty?"

"Oh," He tried to look embarrassed. "She has to be one of his sisters. He has many sisters, right?" Meredith nodded slowly. "He probably didn't have time to introduce her to you."

"But he introduced her to you." Meredith replied with sarcasm. "What exactly do you know about this Catty? Why should have Derek told me about her and how do you know her name?" She asked.

Jim came in front of him and looked at her with a grave face. "I saw him with her this morning in the parking lot."

"Ok and?" Meredith asked, waiting for more.

"They were kissing and hugging and… and he didn't tell her about her." Jim trailed over as he gave her subtle hints. "Then she's not one of his sisters."

Meredith started thinking about what Jim had just told her and processed the latest events; Derek's dinner with Mark and Angela, Derek's confusing behavior after that and then his impatience to talk to her in private. Then it clicked. "That's what he wanted to talk to me about." She muttered under her breath. Her eyes flickered up at Jim, glaring. "So how do you know her name?"

"Uh… from Alex." Jim got confused, as he had followed Meredith's reaction to what he had told her.

"Alex didn't say anything to me about this." Meredith said. "And you saw them kissing and hugging," She continued, glaring and showing him how much she didn't trust his words. "And Alex didn't tell about this." She repeated.

"He must have forgotten… or he didn't have time." Jim became suddenly defensive and that caused Meredith more suspicions about how honest he was.

"Alex is my best friend, Jim." Meredith laughed shortly with sarcasm. "If he had seen or known about my boyfriend making out with another woman in the parking lot of the hospital where we all work, then Derek wouldn't have had the chance to end this day alive or at least not without a bruise." Jim was about to say something in his defense, but Meredith cut him off acidly. "Seriously Jim! You say you want to be my friend. You pretend to be hurt because I don't trust you and I don't see you as my best friend. Seriously! You want me to admit the feelings you have for me. You want me to believe all this? Then accept the fact that Derek and I are a couple. We love and trust each other. If he was making out in the parking lot with this… Catty as you say, then I'm sure we are going to talk about it and if he did it and liked it then we might break up. Then I may need you, but I may need you as a friend who's really upset to see me heartbroken and not a friend, jumping up and down in happiness because of how right he had been about my boyfriend. Alex would never do that." Meredith pushed him out of her way and walked away.

"I'm sorry, Meredith." Jim muttered sincerely.

Meredith stopped and turned back to him. "I gave you a chance to be my friend. Do you remember that time and what happened then?" Jim looked at her, his eyes filled with guilt and regret. "I forgave you then because I believed we could at least be friends. Don't cross the line with me because I'm sure that Alex will be pleased to hear about our secret." She turned to leave but after two steps, she stopped and looked back at Jim. "If you're sorry then prove it." With that, she walked away.


	68. Competition

Though she had had a short shift and a refreshing surgery together with Derek, at the end of the day, Meredith felt extremely tired. It was probably because of Jim, mostly and his mentioning Catty, but it was also because of Derek hiding things from her. She knew he was going to tell her about that, but she couldn't help not feel a bit jealous.

She knew Derek would be out with Mark that evening, so Meredith decided to hang out a little with her friends at Joe's. Walking inside the crowded and noisy bar, Meredith immediately spotted Jim sitting alone at the bar. She had expected to find him there, but she had just hoped that the others would be there too. Meredith lingered at the entrance, hesitating. She wasn't willing to spend any minute alone in Jim's company. She finally decided to leave. As Meredith turned to the door, she noticed Izzie sitting and laughing to one of the tables. Looking carefully, she also saw Alex, Cristina and George.

Meredith sighed, relieved. She didn't really care why, but she was happy that Jim wasn't sitting with the others. She walked over to their table, dragging a chair to sit down.

At Meredith's appearance, the silence fell over the table. Meredith shrugged off her jacket, brushed her hair back and she flashed a greeting smile to her friends. "Just wondering…" Meredith started conversationally. "Why isn't he sitting with you?" She asked, tilting her head to back, towards Jim's direction.

Izzie and George muffled their laughs, while Alex chuckled loudly. "What?" Meredith asked, curious.

"That's strange actually," Alex said. "He came to sit with us, but Cristina hissed and he just turned around and walked away."

Meredith turned to gaze on Cristina, who was staring into another direction, not willing to comment upon that subject. "Mind your own business." Cristina muttered.

"How did you do it?" Meredith insisted. Cristina kept ignoring her. "Please tell me! Show me!" Meredith was almost begging her. "I want him to turn around and walk away when I hiss." But Cristina stayed quiet.

"What has he done?" Alex asked Meredith. "You seem pretty pissed off at him."

Meredith gestured to the bartender to come take her order. She ordered a beer and after she sipped from it, Meredith sighed and started playing with the bottle. "He keeps interfering in my personal life," She muttered. "I mean, why is he pushing? Isn't obvious to everyone that I don't want another relationship but the one I have with Derek? If you agreed to give Derek some credit, then why can't he do the same?"

Her friends glanced at each other, but neither of them said anything. Meredith was too angry and too tired to notice the strange silence between her friends. She sipped from her beer and again and then she saw George elbowing Izzie. Everyone looked into the same direction, staring. Meredith followed their stares and saw Jim at the bar talking to a blonde woman, model-looking type. She didn't find anything interesting at that scene, so Meredith turned back to table. Her friends were having their eyes pinned on Jim, glaring at him and that confused Meredith and made her turn again to look at Jim and that woman.

Meredith looked back and forth from her friends to Jim; her friends were still glaring while Jim seemed to ignore them. "Do you know her?" Meredith asked. Her question made them break the gaze and look at her, but neither of them said anything. "Do you?" Meredith asked again, a little panicked already. "That's Catty," She mumbled to herself as she slowly turned to look at her again. "And you know her," Meredith turned to glare at her friends. "You knew about her, didn't you?"

Everyone, except Alex, looked away, guilty. "So Derek hasn't told you yet," Alex mumbled. "But Jim did it." He tightened his jaw as he glared at Jim. "Meredith, do you really believe that I wouldn't have told you about this… Catty lady, if I had known that Derek was guilty of anything?" The lines from her forehead smoothened. That's exactly what she had told to herself. "I don't know why that moron hasn't told you yet about this, but I decided to give him a chance to explain it to you. Where is he, anyway?"

"He's out with Mark." Meredith mumbled, now staring down at her hands. "He didn't stay at dinner yesterday."

"That's a point of trust for Derek, don't you think?" Izzie asked. "I mean, it's obviously that he didn't enjoy her presence."

"That's right." George approved, nodding, same as Alex. Cristina was the only one who remained impassive, thoughtful.

"Do you think he could have gone that far?" Meredith asked, sounding somewhat disappointed as she glanced over the bar, where Jim and Catty seemed to be having a good time together.

"Do you think he brought her so that she can interfere between you and Derek?" Izzie gasped.

"No," Alex rejected the presumption immediately, shaking his head. "That would be too… too soap opera."

"Yeah, but soap opera happens in real life sometimes." Izzie replied.

"If he did it, then you shouldn't let him win," George rubbed friendly Meredith's back. "And you should also kick him out of the house," He leaned to her ear as for an important secret. "Plus, he never does groceries. Oh and can stay in bathroom for at least one hour."

George's sweet attempt of soothing her succeeded. Meredith smiled at him.

"I have just one advice for you, Mer," Izzie said leaning over the table towards Meredith. Meredith looked at her, uninterested. "Fight for your man."

Meredith shook her head in response. "I don't want to fight," she muttered. "Because I don't have to."

"You have confidence… that's good." Izzie smiled comforting at Meredith.

"Yeah," Meredith grumbled and glanced discreetly towards the bar where she had seen Catty and Jim. As she did that, her eyes remained locked there. Neither of them was there anymore.

"I can't…" Meredith had started to grumble, indignant, but as she turned her attention back to their table, Meredith noticed a female presence beside their table. She first looked at her friends, who were all glaring at that person and just then she turned to see what that was. "Catty." She muttered under her breath.

Catty was sitting beside their table, with crooked smile playing on her lips, staring proudly at Meredith. "I'm famous." She said smugly, hearing Meredith.

"What do you want?" Meredith put up a sarcastic smile.

"I decided to play fair," Catty grinned smugly again. "To let you size up the competition, if you will"

Meredith raised an eyebrow, glaring at Catty. "Have fun losing then!"

"You have some nerve to show up here in front of her!" Izzie spat as she jumped on her feet, looking as if she was ready to attack Catty.

Catty hissed, glaring at Izzie and then turned to look at Meredith. This time, the smile had disappeared from her face. She was not glaring, an expression of disgust painted on her face. "I always win."

"I'm sure you always win… disrespect and scoffer laughs." Meredith replied acidly.

Catty rolled her hands into fists, her arms shaking of anger, but Alex stood up, so she relaxed. She turned on her heels and walked away back to the bar.

"Stupid, idiot bitch!" Izzie grumbled, glaring at Catty. "Oh…" She gasped. "Look at that! I can't believe him!"

Everyone turned to look to the bar, where Jim had joined Catty. He was now helping her with her jacket and walked outside together.

"He's officially homeless." Alex stated, taking a swing from his beer. They looked at Meredith, but she ignored their stares. Her mind was too confused and too tired to process everything that was going on with this Catty, Derek, Jim and everyone else. She stood up reluctantly, taking her bag and left without a word.

Once she got in her car, Meredith took out the phone and dialed.

"Hey, Mer!" Derek's cheerful voice greeted her at the other end of line.

"Hey," She answered, sounding lifeless.

"What's wrong, Mer?" Derek suddenly became worried.

"Can you come home?" She asked.

"Sure," Derek answered without hesitation. "I'm leaving now. Where are you? Do you want me to come pick you up?"

"No. I'm at Joe's now but I'm heading home. I'll see you there."

"Are you sure you can drive?" Derek asked her, concerned. "You don't sound great."

"I'll be fine. I miss you."

Derek chuckled. "You convinced me with that," He said. "See you later."

Meredith smiled and shut her phone. Then she started the car and drove away.

Derek was having dinner with Mark when Meredith called him, sounding upset to ask him to meet her at home. He had had a pleasant evening with Mark, deciding to leave their girlfriends out of the topic of the evening and both chattered and laughed remembering the years spent together in New York.

Meredith's call put an end to their evening, as the tone of her voice sounded grave and Derek decided to go check on her. All the way towards home, Derek tried to think of what could have happened to her, because she didn't seem just tired; she was also upset. At one point, he even panicked, thinking that she might have found about Catty. Whatever had happened to her, he knew he had to talk to her about Catty.

Derek was about to enter into their yard, not paying entirely attention to surroundings, when something hit his car from the right side. He had the seatbelt fastened, so that prevented him from hitting his head on the steering wheel. It took him a moment to return from the shock. He unfastened his seatbelt, hurried and got out of the car. Through the darkness, he recognized Meredith's car.


	69. Her proposal

"Oh God," He gasped, panicked as he ran to her car.

Before he could reach to it, the door opened and Meredith stumbled outside. Derek hurried to catch her in his arms. "Meredith, are you alright? What happened?" He assaulted her with panicked questions.

"I'm fine," She mumbled, a little dizzy. "How are you?" Meredith became suddenly aware and looked carefully at Derek. "I'm sorry I hit. I … I didn't pay attention and … I didn't see you. I didn't hear your car."

"I'm fine," Derek brushed the hair out of her face, looking for any sign of injuries on Meredith's face. "You're bleeding." He said as he saw a small bleeding from her forehead.

"It's just a cut," Meredith winced when Derek touched her forehead. "Are you sure you're fine?" She asked him back.

"I am." Derek smiled. "Did you miss me that bad?" He asked her jokingly.

Meredith sighed, relieved to see that neither of them had been hurt in their small collision and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. Derek wrapped his arms around her into a strong embrace and sunk his face in her hair.

They stood there for a moment, still and quiet, until Meredith pulled back from the embrace. "What have I done?" She sighed, looking at their now tousled cars. Derek's car suffered bigger damages than hers, buckling its front side and breaking a headlight.

"Safe car though," Derek concluded, putting an arm around Meredith's waist as they both looked at their cars. "You could have hurt someone with that impact."

Meredith sighed again, realizing how close she had been all the way back to home to get involved in a much more serious than this. "I had a bad day." She grumbled.

Derek looked at her, confused. "What you meant to say, I think it was that you had a bad evening."

Meredith looked up at him and smiled slightly. "Yeah,"

Derek looked at her cautiously, trying to figure out if Catty had had anything to do with Meredith's mood. But there was nothing about it on Meredith's features. Her smile was the loving one she always showed him and she didn't look angry or jealous. "Did you fight with any of your friends?"

"Kind of," She answered. She took his hand and smiled, looking into his eyes. "Let's get inside. I need a warm bubble bath."

"Let me see if my car is still alive," Derek chuckled and went back to his car. "Take yours back!" He said.

Meredith moved her car, allowing Derek to enter into their alley and soon she followed him. They parked their cars in front of the house, neither of them wishing to take them into the garage.

"You can check the cars while I prepare the bathtub. Would like to join me?" Meredith stopped Derek, when she saw him following inside the house and raised an eyebrow suggestively as she asked him that.

"I definitely want to join you," Derek chuckled and leaned in to kiss her softly on the lips. "But I need to check on your cut first." He said, brushing gently her cheek. "The cars can wait."

"I'm fine, Derek," Meredith smiled convincingly. "I can look at it. It's something superficial anyway."

"How about the dizziness you felt when you stumbled out of the car?" He asked, looking at her cautiously.

"It's was because of the scare, Derek," Meredith smiled. "Now go see how bad our cars are and how much I have to pay for them." She said, pushing him out of the house. "And hurry, because the water might get cold."

Derek sighed and gave in. He watched her though from the doorway until she disappeared upstairs.

While Derek stayed to analyze the damages from their cars, Meredith headed upstairs and prepared the bathtub, filling it with bubbles. She let the water pour and then she went to take the first aid kid from the cabinet. The cut was superficial, so Meredith just cleaned the dried blood and let it suture by itself.

The bathtub was almost filled with water; she turned off the water and stripped off her clothes. She stepped in it and lay down, resting her head over the edge of the bathtub. She closed her eyes, hoping for some relaxation, but Jim's memory didn't help her much. She stood upright and waited for Derek. He was what she needed to feel better.

Derek showed up shortly after Meredith entered in the bathtub. He stripped off his clothes and stepped in, behind Meredith. She left her body resting on his and closed her eyes. Now, with his arms around, Meredith felt much better; and as Derek started running his hand along her arms, Jim was out of her mind.

Derek lowered his face to her jaw and kissed her along its line and then down the line of her neck. Meredith moaned, keeping her eyes closed and caressing gently his arms.

"How's your forehead?" He asked, with a finger under her chin turning her face to him.

"My forehead is great." She whispered, tracing kisses along his jaw.

Derek closed his eyes, moaning and brushed his cheek against her forehead. He looked at her as she cradled in his arms and brought her chin upper, kissing her softly at first and then more passionate. Fevering because of the intimate kiss, Meredith turned around and placed herself on Derek's lap, sneaking her legs behind him. Derek brought her closer to his chest, not breaking the kiss and while his hands started roaming all over her back. His hand clutched on her hair and pulled gently her head to back, arching her neck so that he could kiss it.

Meredith moaned under the pleasure of his soft lips and his soft touch. Her fingers were running through his hair, caressing him. Derek held her body in his hands and leaned her to back a little, as his lips found her shoulders, her collarbone and his hands found her soft breasts.

"This is a small bathtub," Meredith let out a whimper as she started feeling her body numb.

Derek sighed and smiled disappointedly at her. "I know."

"Enough with the bubbles?" Meredith smiled as she cupped his face between her hands and breathed out against his lips.

"Enough," Derek moaned.

Meredith giggled and stood up, closely followed by Derek. He took a towel and wiped off the lather from her body before he wiped his. Then he scooped her up on his arms and carried her back to their bedroom. He lay her down gently in the middle of the bed and positioned himself between her legs. His hands were roaming again all over body while his lips traced kisses on her chest.

Just feeling his loving caresses and his passionate lips kissing her, she knew that Catty didn't have a chance in winning Derek; there was no competition between Meredith and her, because Derek couldn't offer moments like these to another woman but her. She wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, sinking her face in the curve of his neck as he returned kissing her face.

His kisses stopped for a moment, so that he could look into her eyes. His face was lightened by his smile, same as his eyes. "I love you," He whispered softly to her ear and ran his fingers across her cheek, brushing it gently.

"I love you too." She smiled and brought his face down to her, stealing one quick kiss. Derek returned it, lingering and propping his forearms beside each side of her.

"Are you feeling cheerful now?" He asked her, grinning charming.

"Yeah," Meredith giggled, "But I don't feel very cheerful yet." She replied, seductively bringing a leg over his back. She closed her eyes, relaxed and moaned as she felt him hard between her thighs.

Derek moaned throatily at the intimate contact with her wet thighs. He lay over her again, barely pressing his body against hers, and kissed and caressed her in the same time. "I need you, Derek," Meredith moaned pleadingly. She brought her other legs over his waist as well and neither of them could control any longer their actions. Derek lifted gently her hip and thrust into her slowly. Both of them moaned in unison, loud and ecstatic, and Derek picked up the rhythm of his movements. He became swifter and their breathings turned heavier.

Her nails dug in the skin of his back and bit gently from his shoulder as she felt the first waves of pleasure. Derek was holding her head between his hands, his face sunken in the curve of her neck, muffling his moans.

"Oh yes!" Meredith moaned loudly, as she reached the climax. Her entire body tensed beneath him and her nails were leaving now red marks along his shoulders.

Derek released himself inside of her, moaning and panting. As they both finished, their bodies relaxed and Derek let himself over her, tucking her under his body. "I like making love with you." Meredith whispered, still breathlessly.

"Me too," Derek smiled and kissed her on the cheek. "Very cheerful now?" He asked jokingly.

"Yeah," Meredith laughed. She wrapped her arms around and held him in a hug, not bothered by the difficultly she was breathing with because of his weight, pressing against her body. She felt more alive than ever and safe just being there so close and intimate to him.

Derek rolled off her body, earning a whimper of dissatisfaction from Meredith. He chuckled and sneaked his arm around her waist, pulling her close to him. "I wanted to talk to you this evening," He said with regret.

"Can't we talk now?" Meredith asked.

"We could, but I don't want to ruin this." He said, lowering his head to kiss her softly on the lips.

"Let's not talk right away then." Meredith smiled and snuggled in his arms.

They stayed like that, in silence, listening to each other's breathing, enjoying the moment.

"Who's this Catty, Derek?" Meredith broke the moment with a sudden question. She didn't look up at him as she asked him that, but she did it when she felt him staring at her silently. She smiled and kissed him on the lips.

She felt him sighing and tightening his arms around her, pressing his cheek against her head. "She's Angela's sister. That's what I wanted to talk to you about." He muttered, disappointed. He didn't want her to find out about Catty from someone else.

"So what's her problem?" She asked him quietly.

Derek found amusing her question and made him chuckle. "Besides a mental illness? I'm not sure."

Meredith pulled back from his arms so that she could see his face. It was dark in their room, but she could still see the features of his face. The sky was clear outside and the curtains hadn't been closed.

Though he didn't like the moment, Derek knew it was the time to have the talk about Catty. He propped himself on his elbow and ran his fingers across her lips. "Angela invited her to the dinner we were supposed to have with her and Mark yesterday. She showed up with an expensive Rolex as birthday present for me and determined to harass me."

"So that's why you ended the evening with Mark so fast." Meredith said. Derek answered nodding from his head. Meredith bit her lip, muffling a giggle. "Have you been sexually harassed by a woman, Derek Shepherd?"

"That's not funny, Meredith!" Derek frowned, though he felt relieved to see her making fun of the situation instead of jealous. "You have no idea how frustrating it is."

"Actually, I know," Meredith pushed him by his shoulder and flipped him onto his back. She rolled over and lay on top of him. "Remember Anthony?" Derek winced as he remembered the doctor who harassed Meredith no long time ago.

"Are we that sexy and attractive?" Derek laughed, brushing her head off her face.

"I don't know. You tell me." Meredith giggled.

"I know you are," Derek answered seductively and brought her face down to kiss her.

"Only you are allowed to harass me." Meredith kissed him back.

"Good to know." Derek chuckled.

"Tell me more," Meredith said. Derek stopped from smiling and looked at her confused. "About this Catty."

"There's not much to tell, Mer!" Derek groaned, not willing to keep Catty in their conversation. "But I have this feeling that her appearance will bring some unpleasant events. I wanted to tell you about her, Mer, but I never had the chance to do it. I don't keep secrets from you."

"I know," Meredith kissed him. "I'm not afraid of her, Derek so I don't see how can she cause us troubles if we don't allow her."

"It's not about us, but I'm glad to see that you're not worried about her," Derek smiled. "Mark told me Angela had a strange reaction when he asked her to explain why she brought her sister to our dinner."

"Do you think they are plotting something?" Meredith asked.

Derek shrugged and then sighed, disappointed. "So Alex still doesn't trust me."

"Why are you saying that?" Meredith asked him.

Derek looked at her, slightly confused. "Catty pay me a visit this morning at the hospital."

"I heard."

"And Alex saw us." Derek said.

"But wasn't Alex who told me about Catty." Meredith stated.

"He wasn't?" Derek asked, surprised.

"No. Jim told me."

"So even Jim found out." Derek groaned.

"Actually he was the reason I was upset this evening," Meredith said. She rolled off on his and lay on her back, staring at the ceiling. "I thought we're friends. I know he's… rude, but I wasn't expecting to that." She said, mumbling more to herself.

"Now I am lost," Derek admitted, not understanding exactly what she was talking about and why was she so upset about it. "What are you talking about?"

"Guess who spent the evening with him at Joe's this evening and who left with him." Meredith looked at Derek.

The shock was written on his face. "Catty?" He asked.

Meredith nodded. She turned staring at the ceiling again, thoughtful. "You know… I forgave him once, but now… now this is too much," She started mumbling to herself again. "Actually I'm very stupid for forgiving him the first time and trusting him."

Derek had listened carefully to her mumble. There was something in her words which had no meaning for him. "Meredith, did anything happen between you and Jim? Something more than… a chasing?" She had told him nothing had happened between her and Jim, but now he started to have doubts.

That question brought her back from her thoughts. She looked at him without saying anything in return. "I'll tell you." She said so quietly that not even she could hear herself very well. Derek stayed quiet, waiting for her to talk, but he couldn't hide the frown from his forehead. "I had a crush on him when I first met him in the Med School," Her confession was closely followed by Derek's silent growl. She closed her eyes, hurt by his reaction, but she took a deep breath, being ready to tell him the secret. "From the first moment we met he acted flirty with me. I liked him. He was funny. The flirting was funny," Derek growled again, louder this time. "But innocent," She added as reply to his reaction. "Then one night…" she paused hesitantly. "Jim, Alex and I went to a party. Alex found company immediately and disappeared. We had fun. There was a lot of alcohol and good music and … Jim got very drunk. I decided we had enough for one night so I drove him home. He fell asleep on our way back to the dorms, but I had to wake him up when we got there. I couldn't have carried him to his room." And there she stopped.

Derek waited for her to continue, but she didn't do it. Then he became anxious. It didn't happen what he thought he had believed. "Meredith" He turned, facing her and brushed her cheek with the back of his hand, but there was no response from her. "Did he…" he chocked with his own words, unable to pronounce them.

"No!" Meredith answered immediately, like trying to deny his presumption. "He was too drunk to … do it."

"But he tried." Derek said.

Meredith answered through her silence. "It wasn't… that scary, because I knew I could fight against him and … I forgot everything about that night. We were all good friends and he felt ashamed. All his chasing afterwards was… innocent. Or at least that's how I considered it." She snuggled in his arms again, closer she could. "I don't want to talk about him anymore. You were right. This talked ruined our night. We should have left it for tomorrow."

At first, Derek's arms were rigid around her. He was too angry of what he had heard from Meredith, but then he tried to calm down and not let anything ruin their night. He kissed the top of her head and brushed his cheek against it. "You are safe with me."

"I know," Meredith looked up at him and smiled. Derek smiled comforting and kissed her softly on the lips. "Derek?"

"Yes" Meredith looked at him, smiling and biting her lip. "What?" Derek asked her, amused by her cute smile.

"Marry me!" The words popped out of her mouth.

Derek stared at her for a moment without reacting and then he suddenly burst into laugh and leaned in to kiss her on the lips. "You were supposed to get down on one knee and have a ring, Mer." Derek laughed mockingly. Meredith slapped him furiously and shoved him away from her, taking him by surprise. He winced and covered his burning cheek, very startled by her reaction. He had truly believed that Meredith said that as a joke, but now he could read the disappointment and anger in her eyes. "Were you serious?"

"No!" Meredith spat angrily and turned her back on him.

"Meredith," Derek put his arm around her and propped his chin her shoulder. "You don't have to worry about Catty. You said it yourself… she's not threaten for us."

Meredith shrugged her shoulder to push him away from her and lay on her stomach, hugging her pillow. "Forget what I said," She mumbled. "Let's sleep now."

Derek stared at her, confused. Had she been serious about her proposal? He didn't know that for sure and now Meredith seemed to be a way too bad mood to talk to him, so he decided to let her calm down. He leaned in to her again and kissed her on the shoulder and behind her ear. Meredith didn't move from her position and didn't say anything either. "Good night!" He sighed and returned to his side of bed. Again, Meredith didn't say anything in response and so they went to sleep in a heavy silence.

Meredith didn't get too much sleep that night. She had been serious when she asked him to marry her. It wasn't because of Catty or because of Jim; it was the safety she felt in his arms, each time her day was bad or exhausting. She was angry, upset, disappointed, all in the same time because of Derek's answer.

It was 5:29 and Meredith was staring blankly at those red flashing numbers. As the first sound of the alarm was heard, she hit the button and stopped it. She threw the covers away from her and jumped off the bed, while Derek was just starting to wake up.  
Meredith fumbled through the darkness after a clothing item to put on her and ignored Derek's moans as he rolled to her side of bad and find it empty.

"Get back in here," He muttered sleepily. "It's still early."

"I want to get to the hospital earlier today," Meredith grumbled, already pissed off by Derek's mood. He was horny and cheerful like nothing bad had happened in that night. Was he a moron? She asked herself. "Some apologized would be nice." She grumbled so silently that only she could hear herself.

Derek opened his eyes and sighed as he watched Meredith buttoning his shirt. He knew from the tone of her voice that she was still upset. He lay on his back, rubbing his face in frustration after Meredith left the room. He had had to work so hard only to convince her to move in together that now her proposal was hard to believe. At first, Derek had thought Meredith did it, scared of whatever Catty and Jim might do, but after watching her reaction after his response, he started thinking that she might have been sincere and did it just because she wanted it to.

Soon after Meredith left their room, Derek heard the water pouring in the bathroom from down the hall; another sign that she was still mad of him and he should give her some space. He showered fast and dressed for work. Before he headed downstairs, Derek took out his phone and dialed a number.

"Yeah!" Mark's sleepy voice greeted him.

"Hey Mark! Are you sleeping?" Derek asked.

"Kind of… was. Why?" Mark muttered.

"I need a favor." Derek said, ignoring the sleepy mood of his friend.

"Mhmm," That was that Mark could reply.

"Do you remember the ring I asked you to keep a while ago for me?" Derek asked.

"Uh-huh." Mark replied.

"I need you to bring it to me today at work."

"Ok." Mark said, still sounding sleepy.

"Thanks man!" Derek smiled with satisfaction. "You're coming to work today, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I'm coming!" Mark snapped. "But not right away, so I'll see you later." The line went dead before Derek could say anything. Derek put the phone back in his pants' pocket and headed downstairs.

He found Meredith in kitchen, sitting at table and sipping from her coffee. She didn't notice Derek's presence there right away as she seemed thoughtful. Derek paced towards the coffee machine and glanced cautiously in Meredith's direction. "We'll take my car today and later I'll call a car service to fix them both up." He said, in a casual tone.

"Mhm," Meredith muttered simply. "Let me know how much it costs me." She said in a bitter tone as she put her cup of coffee down, not looking at Derek.

Derek poured himself some coffee and went to sit down at table. "I'm sorry for mocking you last night." He put carefully his hand over hers as he spoke in a soft voice. Meredith kept her eyes down at the coffee cup and didn't say anything. "Mer," Derek brushed gently her cheek as he said her name with a pleading voice. Meredith looked up at him. This time the frown of anger was gone from her forehead, but the look from her eyes was sad. "Let's talk about what you said." Derek said in the same soft voice as before.

"I don't want to talk about that anymore," Meredith turned her face away from him, upset. "Please forget I did that." She said pleadingly.

Derek didn't like her suggestion and shook his head disappointedly. "Please, Mer! Let's talk."

Meredith refused, shaking her head and stood up from table. "I'll wait for you in the car." She said and grabbed her back and her jacket from a chair and got out of the kitchen.

Now he knew for sure that her proposal had been real. He was still feeling terrible badly for mocking her, but now he couldn't help but feel a little angry too. He didn't want to forget what she had said; he wanted to talk to her about it. He gulped from his coffee and then stood up, reluctantly following Meredith outside.

As he got on the driver seat, Derek found Meredith lying in her chair, with her arms folded across her chest and staring out on her window. He slammed the door shut and fastened his seatbelt nervous.

Meredith started when Derek slammed the door and look at him, watching his nervous movements. "You're the angry one now?" She asked acidly.

"Don't you think I have the right to be?" Derek burst angrily. "I'm sorry for not taking seriously your proposal, but we need to talk about that, Meredith! You can't just ask me to forget about it. I don't want to forget about it. I want to talk about it!"

"Well, I don't want to talk about it anymore!" Meredith huffed back and looked out on her window again.

Derek glared at her angrily turning off the engine and drove away. No other word had been spoken between the two off them until they got in the hospital's parking lot.

As Meredith got out of the car and shut its door, she heard someone calling her name.


	70. Reconciliation

Meredith closed her eyes briefly and groaned silently as she recognized the voice. She shut her door and hurried to get to Derek's side, which was already glaring and shaking of anger. "Let's go, Derek!" Meredith hung on his arm and tried to drag him after her, but Derek's feet stayed pinned in a spot.

"Meredith!" Jim was running towards them, calling after her breathlessly. "We… we need to talk," He said, panting as he reached to them.

"I don't…" Her words died off as Derek swept over Jim, punching him straight in his face, sending him to ground. "Derek!" Meredith hurried to grab Derek, as he didn't look like he was going to limit himself to just one punch.

Derek jerked his arm from her grip, involuntary jostling her. Jim stumbled up on his feet and found their car as support to regain his stability. He was too shocked by Derek's sudden attack to hit back and that gave Derek enough time to push him against the car, gripping him on jacket, almost strangling him.

"Enough, Derek!" Meredith shouted, scared of what Derek could do to Jim.

But Derek didn't seem to hear or see anything else but his anger for Jim. "If you're going to touch her or even talk to her, I'll make sure put you in much pain than this. I want you out of that house; you are not aloud to get anywhere closer to her than 7 feet. She has friends and she has me. She definitely doesn't need you anymore. You're nothing but scum; a human trash!" He shoved Jim, hitting his back against the car and then he released him and walked away.

It took her a longer moment to recover from the shock and follow Derek. She walked beside him, glancing from time to time towards his direction. He was staring angrily ahead, with his hands rolled into fists and ignoring Meredith's presence. As they entered the hospital, Derek stopped and turned halfway towards Meredith. "I'll see you at rounds," He said in a quiet and sad voice, without looking at her, and then he headed towards the elevators, hurrying his pace and leaving Meredith behind. She stared dumbfound after him until he entered one of the elevators and disappeared behind closed doors.

"I'm not mad..." Jim voice made her start. "Though I'm not sure what that was for," He winced, barely touching his swollen cheek.

"I told him," Meredith muttered, still staring at the elevator that Derek had taken. She turned calmly to Jim and sighed. "Yeah," She sighed again as she had wanted to say something more but she didn't know what.

Jim stared at her for a moment, confused. Then, slowly, his features turned in shock. "You told him?" He asked her in a low voice.

Meredith didn't say anything else; she just turned around and walked towards the elevators.

Jim was right behind her. "I guess I should be lucky I got out so easily from his hands," He muttered. "Why have you told him?" He asked her after a short moment of silence. Meredith just shook her head, refusing to answer. "I still need to talk to you," he said. Surprisingly, he wasn't mad of the punch he had received from Derek or of Derek's aggression. He still seemed to be Jim, calm and arrogant.

Meredith stepped in an elevator and Jim followed her inside, pressing the button for their floor. "I need to talk to you, Meredith," Jim insisted.

They were alone in there, so Meredith slapped him out of nowhere, taking Jim off guard again.

Jim made instinctively a step backwards, rubbing his cheek; the same cheek that Derek had punched. "What's this? Let's-use-Jim-as-boxing-sack-morning?" he held the back of his hand over his cheek and then he looked at Meredith again. This time he could see she was crying. "What's going on, Mer?" Jim asked her, sounding concerned. His first impulse was to touch her arm, but Meredith's hiss made his hand slip before he could touch her.

"I really don't want to have anything to do with you anymore. I want you out of my house and I want you near me as less as possible." Meredith said in a calm voice, but yet sounding upset.

Jim watched her in silence for a moment. Slowly, he started looking like he understood the situation. "It's not what you think it is."

Meredith looked at him, glaring and laughed shortly with sarcasm.

"I have nothing to do with Catty's presence here," he said defensively.

"You didn't leave with her last night from Joe's, did you?" She asked him with the same sarcasm in her tone.

"I can explain that," Jim retorted.

"I don't want to hear anything," Meredith turned, facing the doors again. The doors opened and Meredith walked outside, of course, followed by Jim.

"You have to listen to me," Jim insisted, but Meredith didn't show any intention of listening to him and continued walking towards their locker room.

Jim tried to make Meredith talk to him until they got to their locker room, but useless because she wasn't willing to hear a word from him.

"Come with me," he grabbed Meredith's arm and dragged her inside the bathroom. Jim pushed her inside and locked the door behind them.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Meredith snapped nervously after she realized what Jim had done.

"I need to talk to you and you're going to listen to me," Jim replied calmly.

"You bastard," Meredith attacked him, slapping him and struggling to pass past him to get out of the bathroom.

"What's going on in there?" An unknown voice asked from the other side of the door. It was probably one of their fellow interns, alarmed by Jim's brutality and Meredith's shouts.

"I just need to talk to you, Meredith," Jim ignored the person from outside and managed to get Meredith away from him, holding her by her shoulders. "You just have to listen," he said, speaking calmly. "I would never try to hurt you."

Meredith rolled her eyes with sarcasm at his assurance and looked away.

"Please don't bring that up again," Jim said, referring back at the night when they were to the Med School and Meredith and he went to a party together. "I am too ashamed of that and I swear I would never try to do that again."

"What's Catty doing here?" Meredith snapped. "You couldn't fight alone? You needed back ups?"

"I have nothing to do with Catty's presence here," Jim replied defensively. "I swear!" He said as he saw the hate in her eyes.

"I guess that it wasn't you the one who left last night with her from Joe's bar," Meredith replied sarcastically.

Jim closed his eyes briefly and sighed. "Before I tell you what I've found out, just let me remind you that I appraise your friendship more than anything else." Meredith couldn't help but groan at his confession. "I know I haven't proved it to you, but I do," he added.

"Just say whatever you have to say and let me go," Meredith said dryly.

"Will you believe me?" He asked her.

"No," her answer came straightly.

"Try," he said. "Ok so let me tell you what I found out," he waiting for Meredith to show a minimum of interest, but she stayed impassive. "Apparently I am in nobody's grace anymore,"

"No really," Meredith laughed sarcastically.

Jim ignored her and went on, "So last night I decided to sit by myself at the bar and drown my sorrow. Then I saw this is super top model girl sitting beside me," he smiled as he saw Meredith rolling her eyes at his description of Catty. "And checking her out, I recognized her. I wanted to see what her plans are so we started talking. Of course, I couldn't say no when she asked me… you know," he chuckled smugly, referring at his departure with Catty.

"I'm not interested in your sex life, Jim so get to the point," Meredith cut him off.

"My point is that Catty's sister doesn't know who her baby's father is but she knows it's definitely not Sloan's." Jim said, leaving Meredith staring at him dazed and speechless. "I know," he chuckled at Meredith's reaction.

Meredith tried to breathe again and recover from the shocking news. "What's Catty's business then?" She asked him.

"She just likes Derek," he said. "Her sister told her about him and she was curious to meet him."

Meredith stared at him for a moment, wondering if she should trust him or not.

"I'm not going to say that to Sloan. You could do it since your boyfriend is your best friend," Jim said. He unlocked the door and opened it.

As the door flew open, Jim started as he saw Dr. Bailey in the doorway glaring at him. "Scut! Go now!" she told him. Jim stormed out of the bathroom and grabbed his scrubs from his locker on his way out. "Grey, you will be watching Mr. Petersen's condition today," she said, calmer and turned to the other interns. "The rest of you come meet me at the nurses' station in exactly 7 minutes."

After she checked up on Mr. Petersen, Meredith took his chart and left to the nurses' station to update it.

"How's his condition today?" Derek's voice made her stir. She turned to look at him while he held his hand out for the chart.

Meredith handed it to him. "His recovery looks favorable. The main parameters are good; he's conscious and doesn't complain about dizziness."

"Ok then; I'll go see him too," Derek said, handing back the chart to Meredith. "Are you under my service today?"

"Yes," Meredith nodded.

"Come find me after you finish with Mr. Petersen's chart," Derek turned to leave but Meredith stopped him.

"I finished it," she said, hurrying to keep the pace with him. She could see he was still mad of her and she hated it. She also needed to tell him what Jim had told her. "Can I talk to you?" She asked him discreetly in whisper.

"I assume it's not about something medical," Derek said dryly, looking ahead.

"It's not," she muttered. "But it might be very important."

"So it's not about what you said last night," Derek stopped and turned to look at her. Meredith looked away, embarrassed. "Were you serious, Meredith?"

"Yes," Meredith snapped at him, already irritated by the distrust he was showing regarding her proposal. "Can we talk now?"

"After I see Mr. Petersen," he said simply and walking inside the patient's room.

After Derek checked on Mr. Petersen, he and Meredith left the patient's room talking more about his condition and chances of full recovery.

"Can we talk now?" Meredith stopped and asked Derek in low voice.

Derek glanced around them and nodded. "Come," he said in a softer voice now and put his hand on her back, barely touching her as he led her to an on call room. He gave one more glance around them before he grabbed the doorknob and tried twisting. As he did that, he realized the door was locked. The smiled at each other discreetly, amused to see that they weren't the only ones who were using those. Derek tried to nearby door and surprisingly, it was locked too.

"But it's only 7 in the morning," Meredith whispered.

Derek shrugged clueless, smiling. As he looked around them again, his smile faded instantly and elbowed Meredith to pay attention. Meredith followed his gaze and her cheeks flushed in a second.

Richard Weber was staring at them from the end of the hallway, leaning against the wall, keeping his arms folded across his chest and glaring at them. As he saw them noticing his presence, Richard walked towards them.

"Good morning, Dr. Weber," Derek tried to greet him cheerfully and hid his embarrassment. It was obvious that the locked on call rooms weren't a simple coincidence and Richard Weber had something to do with them.

"Dr. Shepherd, Dr. Grey," he said formally, scrutinizing them. "Do you need anything?" He asked them.

"Uh, no," Derek chuckled nervously.

"As you could see, the on call rooms are out of order. I don't think you had time to find out…" Richard said, a grim smile playing on his lips. "You can take a key from the nurses' station, but only if you are on call that night or if you are in the hospital for longer than 24 hours. Behave," he whispered and walked away.

"Let's go down to the basement," Derek suggested.

As they got out of the elevator, both of them felt blinded by a strong light. They stepped outside the elevator hesitantly, blinking constantly as they were trying to adjust their eyes to the strong light.

"They put more light down here?" Meredith asked, confused.

"Apparently," Derek muttered, as confused as Meredith. They took a turn and got to the hallway where their regular meeting place was.  
That hall had been lighted blindly as well and Meredith immediately noticed that something was changed there. She stopped and tried to figure out what was changed.

"Derek, are you sure you pressed the right button?" she asked him, wandering her eyes around the place.

"Yes," Derek chuckled. "I get your confusion," he said. "We never noticed before how old this place looks. And look at the walls…" he said, almost with fascination. "they're gray and dirty."

"It's not the walls, Derek," Meredith replied, frustrated. Then she gasped. "The gurney," she muttered in a low voice.

"What?" Derek looked at her, confused.

"There's no gurney in here, Derek," she said, pointing to the place where several gurneys used to be.

"They took them all?" Derek was shocked. "Why?"

As he asked that, Meredith sighed. "What?" he asked her.

"Richard," Meredith frowned as she looked at him.

"Come with me," Derek took Meredith's hand and walked down the hall, determined.

"Where are we going, Derek?" she had just finished the question, when Derek stopped suddenly in front of a door.

"Payroll," he narrowed his eyes as he tried to read the old writing from the door. "Do you think anyone's using this?" He asked.

"I don't know, Derek and I don't care," she retorted angrily. "I can't believe he took all the gurneys from here," she mumbled, glaring at the place where their usual gurney used to be.

Derek looked at her and chuckled. She hadn't understood his interest for the old payroll office. He grabbed the doorknob and with a twist, the door creaked open.

"Derek, what are you doing?" that caught Meredith's attention. Before she could even finish her question, Derek pulled her inside. He closed the door and fumbled on the wall after a switch to turn on the lights.

Once he found, a dim yellow light filled the office. It wasn't a large room; there were two desks placed across from each other and boxes filling the space between them.

"Nice," Derek smirked, looking around him.

"Derek, what are we doing here? We need to talk and then we need to get back to work. If Bailey finds us missing, then my internship at this hospital is over."

Derek looked at her and smiled lovingly. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into him for kiss. "You're so slow sometimes," he chuckled, which annoyed Meredith even more. "This could be our new place," he pointed out, smirking at her.

At first, Meredith stared at him with disbelief; then, as she started processing what he had told her, a wide smile spread across her lips. "There you go!" Derek laughed and stroked her cheek gently.

"This isn't bad," Meredith stated, for the first time paying more attention to the place.

"It isn't bad," Derek agreed. "It's perfect."

Meredith looked at him and giggled. "So you're not angry anymore."

"I'm not," Derek smiled. He took her hand and led her to the nearest desk. He hopped up and brought Meredith in front of him. "What is it that you wanted to talk about?" He asked.

Meredith sighed as she realized they should get back to serious issues. "I talked to Jim," she muttered, looking down at her feet, as she already knew Derek's reaction.

"Nice," he growled bitterly again. "So you two are still friends."

"We're not friends!" Meredith spat, glaring at him. "He doesn't expect me to be his friend anymore after his interference in our relationship."

"Then what is it that you two talked about?" he asked.

"About Catty," she muttered. "And Angela."

"So he knows them. That's not a news anymore. Mark and I already had our suspicions about Angela."

"He says he has nothing to do with Catty's appearance here," Meredith said.

"And you believed him?" Derek asked her, with outrage in his voice.

"He doesn't expect us to believe him," Meredith retorted.

"But do you believe him?" He asked her again.

"I don't know," she muttered and turned around, facing the door.

"You're so naïve, Meredith," Derek laughed with sarcasm.

"Maybe I am!" She snapped. "Do you want to listen what I have to say or should I go straight to Mark?"

"It has something to do with Mark?" he tried to calm himself.

"It has to do with Mark only," Meredith lowered her voice as well. "He said that last night he tried to find out what's Catty's business in our life and he also wanted to get laid."

Derek didn't reply; he just waited for her to go on.

"Apparently, Angela is not sure who's the father of her baby, so she found Mark as easy to trap and her sister, Catty, she's just looking for a partner I guess. Angela told her about you." Meredith went on with the story, telling him everything that Jim had told her.

"Something is not right here," Derek said, thoughtful. "Mark said Angela was virgin when they had sex for the first time. Did she become a whore afterwards?"

"I don't know," Meredith shrugged. "Maybe she wasn't virgin."

"Then how could she make him believe she was?" Derek asked, confused. "You know when a woman is experienced in bed and Mark has met a lot of women by now. I think he can tell the difference."

"Maybe she's not that good in bed," Meredith said. "Or maybe he didn't pay too much attention to… to their act. Maybe she wanted him to believe that."

"I… I don't know what to say," he muttered, unconsciously running his hand over her cheek. "You have to admit that this is kind of hard to believe."

"It is," Meredith agreed. She put her hand over his and rubbed her cheek against his palm.

Derek looked down at her and smiled. He put an arm around her and pulled her into his arms. "I'm sorry I snapped at you like that," he whispered.

"Me too," Meredith snuggled in his arms. "I was serious when… when I proposed you," she hid her face in his chest as she felt her cheeks burning.

"I know," Derek said softly. "And I am sorry I didn't believe you."

"I want to talk about it," she said, looking up at him.

Derek smiled and shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it," He leaned down to her and kissed her softly on the lips. "Not right now," he added. He hopped down from the desk, still holding Meredith in his arms. "I'm taking you out to dinner tonight if we manage to get off from work early."

"Ok," she smiled, thrilled with the idea.

"I called to a car service to come take my car and during lunch I hope I'll be able to go take yours and find a car for rent."

"Will you tell it to Mark?" she asked him in a low voice.

"Should we trust Martin?" he asked her. Meredith just shrugged as answer. Derek cupped her face and kissed her passionately. "I love you," he whispered; his breath brushed over her lips.

"Me too," she smiled.

"Are you sure?"

"Very," Meredith reached up to his lips and kissed him. "I love you."

"Don't take it back later," Derek warned her jokingly.

"Ok," Meredith laughed. "So we're friends again?"

"No," Derek shook his head, smiling teasingly. "We're lovers," he whispered and kissed her. "We should celebrate for finding this place."

"Now?" Meredith raised her brows suggestively. Derek could easily read the lust from her eyes.

"No," he laughed. "As you said, if Bailey notices our absence, then you're out of here," he leaned in and kissed her. "And I wouldn't be able to stand that," he said in a fake whimper.

"Then let me go," Meredith laughed, slapping him playfully.

Derek sighed and reluctantly let his hands fell from around her body. "Don't tell anyone about this office," he warned her.

"Ok," Meredith promised.

Before they left the old payroll office, Derek firstly took a peek outside to make sure that none would see them coming out from there.


End file.
